SEOUL, Oct. 8 (Yonhap) -- Financial holding companies in South Korea saw record net profits in the first half of the year thanks to the robust performances of their banking and insurance operations, as well as stellar returns from investments, data showed Thursday.
The combined net profit of 10 financial holding firms reached a record 17.6 trillion won (US$13.1 billion) in the January-June period, up 2.2 trillion won, or 13.7 percent, from a year earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Financial Supervisory Service.
Net income from their banks accounted for 47.1 percent of the total, while returns on their financial investments made up 24.9 percent and earnings from their insurance firms accounted for 12.3 percent of the total.
As of end-June, their combined total assets stood at 4,391.4 trillion won, up 323.6 trillion won, or 8 percent, from a year earlier.
Their nonperforming loan (NPL) ratio came to 1.03 percent at end-June, up 0.08 percentage point from six month ago. Their loan loss reserve ratio dropped to 96.5 percent from 106.8 percent over the cited period.
The 10 financial holding firms include KB Financial Group, Shinhan Financial Group, Nonghyup Financial Group, Hana Financial Group and Woori Financial Group.
The companies had a combined 355 financial affiliates as of end-June, up from 342 tallied six months earlier.
sam@yna.co.kr
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