South Korean financial holding firms post record half-year profit of 17.6 trillion won

Preliminary data released by the Financial Supervisory Service show that South Korea's ten major financial holding firms achieved a historic combined net profit of 17.6 trillion won in the January-June period, marking a 13.7% rise over the same span last year. Banking subsidiaries generated the largest share of income at 47.1%, followed by investment returns at 24.9% and insurance businesses at 12.3%. The groups' total assets expanded to 4,391.4 trillion won, an increase of 8% from the prior year, while the non-performing loan ratio improved slightly to 1.03% despite a modest rise from six months earlier.

The loan loss reserve ratio fell to 96.5% from 106.8%, indicating tighter provisioning. The cohort includes KB Financial Group, Shinhan Financial Group, Nonghyup Financial Group, Hana Financial Group and Woori Financial Group, which together operate 355 financial affiliates as of end-June.