Woori Financial Group's third-quarter net profit came to 1.0492 trillion won. With that, the group achieved quarterly net profit of 1 trillion won or more twice in a row for the first time since its launch. As growth in corporate-focused lending and higher earnings at non-bank affiliates combined with cost cuts and better asset soundness, operating profit accumulated through the third quarter rose 19.5% from a year earlier.
In its business results released on the 23rd, Woori Financial announced that total net profit for the first three quarters was 2.6581 trillion won. The company explained that, excluding gains from bargain purchases arising from last year's acquisition of insurers, the growth rate was 18.7%. Over the same period, net operating revenue rose 6.2% to 8.6803 trillion won, setting a new all-time high. Interest income grew as lending increased, centered on corporate finance, and non-interest income earned by non-bank affiliates also helped lift earnings.
Cumulative interest income was 7.0359 trillion won, up 4.5% from a year earlier. Woori Bank's outstanding won loans stood at 313 trillion won at the end of September, up 4.1% from the end of last year. Non-interest income was 1.6444 trillion won, up 13.9%. Although gains and losses in the securities segment fell as long-term interest rates rose, the inclusion of insurers and expanded collaboration among affiliates translated into higher income. As collaboration between the bank and the securities arm got on track, group-wide investment banking (IB) fees more than doubled in a year.
Indicators on costs and asset soundness also improved. Although headcount grew with the acquisition of insurance and securities subsidiaries, investments were made in IT (information technology) infrastructure and the education tax was raised, the selling and administrative expense ratio fell 0.8 percentage point from a year earlier to 42.3%. The credit cost ratio also fell 0.10 percentage point to 0.42%.
As a result, operating profit for the first three quarters rose 19.5% to 3.5428 trillion won. Return on equity (ROE) on common shares also rose from 9.0% in the first half to 9.9% on a cumulative third-quarter basis.
Woori Bank, the group's core affiliate, posted net profit of 1.0276 trillion won in the third quarter alone. That was up 22% from the previous quarter and the most ever for a quarter. Cumulative net profit for the first three quarters was 2.4006 trillion won. Woori Bank plans to keep expanding high-quality assets, centered on productive finance, while continuing to work on cost and soundness management. It also plans to keep investing in information protection infrastructure to respond to customer data leaks and cyberattacks and to widen the scope of biometric authentication.
Cumulative third-quarter net profit of the major non-bank affiliates was 133.7 billion won for Woori Card, 121.6 billion won for Dongyang Life, 114.6 billion won for Woori Financial Capital, 28.2 billion won for Woori Investment & Securities and 25.4 billion won for Woori Asset Management. At its board meeting that day, Woori Financial approved a third-quarter dividend per share of 220 won. Woori Financial continues shareholder return policies such as tax-free dividends. A Woori Financial official said, "By posting net profit of 1 trillion won for two straight quarters, we proved our strengthened earnings power," adding, "We will expand shareholder returns by raising ROE going forward."