April 25, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] The state-run Industrial Bank of Korea said on July 26 that its net profit rose 17.2 percent on-year in the first half, thanks to a sharp decline in loan-loss provisions.

Net profit stood at 937.2 billion won (US$837.30 million) for the January-June period of 2018, the policy bank said in a statement.

Its net interest margin, a key measure of profitability, climbed 0.02 percentage point to 1.96 percent at the end of June.

IBK, which specializes in supporting small and medium enterprises, saw its outstanding loans to smaller firms reach 148.7 trillion won as of end-June, up 4.4 percent from a quarter earlier.

Its SME loans dominated the market with a leading 22.7 percent share.

By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (ssh@heraldcorp.com)