Woori Financial Group announced that it achieved a net profit exceeding 1 trillion won in the second quarter of this year.
On July 24, Woori Financial reported a net profit of 1.046 trillion won for the second quarter, a 7.4% increase compared to the same period last year.
This marks the second-largest quarterly profit in the company's history, following last year's third quarter profit of 1.244 trillion won. It is also the largest profit recorded for the second quarter.
Compared to the first quarter of this year, which saw a net profit of 604.3 billion won, the second quarter profit represents a 66.2% increase. The first quarter profit had decreased by 2.1% year-on-year due to provisions set aside for overseas bank subsidiaries.
The cumulative net profit for the first half of the year reached 1.609 trillion won, up 3.7% from the same period last year.
A Woori Financial official stated, "Despite geopolitical instability in the Middle East and increased exchange rate volatility, the contribution of non-banking sectors has expanded, demonstrating the success of our transformation into a comprehensive financial group."
The integration of the insurance company also positively impacted the results. The contribution of the non-banking sector in the first half was 22.3%, more than three times the 6.9% recorded last year.
Woori Investment & Securities reported a net profit of 24.7 billion won for the first half, a 44.2% increase from 17.1 billion won in the same period last year. Woori Card and Woori Financial Capital also saw increases of 24.2% and 14.1%, respectively, with profits of 94.5 billion won and 76.9 billion won.
Dongyang Life, acquired last year, recorded a net profit of 91.9 billion won in the first half.
Thanks to growth in the non-banking sector, non-interest income for the second quarter rose by 19.4% to 629 billion won, while interest income increased by 3.3% to 2.336 trillion won.
With both interest and non-interest income rising, the total operating revenue (interest income + non-interest income) for the first half reached a record 5.7227 trillion won.
In the second quarter, Woori Financial (bank and card) and Woori Bank's net interest margin (NIM) were 1.75% and 1.51%, respectively, up by 0.04 percentage points and 0.06 percentage points from the same period last year.
The common equity tier 1 capital ratio increased to 13.7%, up from 13.6% in the previous quarter.
Woori Financial stated, "We have maintained a stable level above our medium-term target of 13%."
On the same day, Woori Financial's board of directors decided to maintain the second quarter dividend at 22 billion won per share, the same as the previous quarter. The dividend will be paid as a tax-exempt distribution.
Additionally, the company has decided to repurchase and retire 150 billion won worth of its own shares in the second half of the year.
As a result, the total amount of share repurchases and retirements for this year will reach 350 billion won, the largest since the group's inception.
A Woori Financial official remarked, "The recovery of quarterly net profit exceeding 1 trillion won signifies the strengthening of Woori Financial Group's fundamentals and profit-generating capacity. We will continue to enhance corporate value by expanding shareholder returns."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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