KB Financial, Woori post above-expected 1Q profit

KB surpassed Woori as the largest Korean financial holding company by assets during the quarter.

KB Financial Group Inc. and Woori Finance Holdings Co., South Korea's two largest financial holding companies by assets, on Friday reported better-than-expected results and sounded an upbeat note about future profitability as the domestic economy rebounds.

KB's net profit for the three months ended March 31 more than doubled from the same time a year earlier to KRW572.68 billion ($516.41 million), while Woori's net profit more than tripled to KRW573 billion ($516.70 million)--the best quarterly result since the third quarter of 2007. Both firms recorded substantial improvement in net interest margin, a key profitability measure for the banking industry, while bad-debt provisioning declined from the year-ago period. Woori also booked a KRW217 billion ($195.68 million) pre-tax gain after selling Hynix Semiconductor Inc. shares during the quarter.

KB regained the title as the largest Korean financial holding company by assets during the quarter, surpassing Woori. KB had KRW325.6 trillion ($293.61 billion) in assets as of March, while Woori had KRW325.4 trillion (293.43 billion) in assets at the end of the quarter.

"We expect a substantial non-interest income due to factors like Samsung Life Insurance Co.'s listing and continued growth," Woori said in a statement, adding that it expects profitability to continue improving going forward.

View the full story in Wall Street Journal.