KB Financial leads S. Korea's major banking groups in surpassing Q3 earnings expectations

KB Financial Group recorded 1.16 trillion won in net profit, up 24.1 percent on-year, to lead South Korea's major banking groups that were bolstered by nonbanking businesses in posting better-than-expected third-quarter numbers.

Shinhan Financial Group, which relinquished the top spot to KB last quarter, posted a net profit of 1.14 trillion won, up 16.6 percent on-year.

In terms of accumulated net profit so far this year, Shinhan is still number one with 2.95 trillion won while KB trails with 2.87 trillion won.

KB and Shinhan posted quarterly net profits that of over 1 trillion won for the first time.

Meanwhile, Hana Financial Group suffered a net profit decline of 9.15 percent on-year to 760.1 billion won, but with an accumulated net profit from January to September period 2.1 trillion won, gaining 3.2 percent from the previous year.

Woori Financial Group's net profit also dipped, albeit by only 1.13 percent on-year to 479.8 billion won. The figures were also above market expectations.

The banking groups attributed their better-than-expected performance to the stock market rally this year featuring a healthy pipeline of initial public offerings such as SK Biopharmaceuticals and Big Hit Entertainment.

However, their banking units have record-low borrowing costs with the Bank of Korea slashing its benchmark interest rate to a
record low of 0.5 percent.

Shinhan’s brokerage unit, Shinhan Investment, enjoyed a 115 percent on-year increase in net profit to 127.5 billion won while its credit card business, Shinhan Card, also reported a net profit increase of 19.9 percent to 167.6 billion won.

But it was a different story for Shinhan Bank, which suffered a net profit drop of 10.1 percent.

Meanwhile, KB Securities’ third-quarter net profit nearly quadrupled from 56 billion won in the third quarter last year to 210 billion won in the same period this year.