Woori Financial Group's net profit for the first nine months of this year fell 4.93 percent from the same period a year earlier. The result reflected a base effect from one-off gains booked during an insurer acquisition last year. Third-quarter net profit topped 1 trillion won, marking the first time since the group's launch that it has posted more than 1 trillion won for two straight quarters.

Woori Financial said on Thursday its net profit for the first nine months came to 2.66 trillion won, down 4.93 percent from 2.8 trillion won a year earlier. Excluding one-off factors such as bargain purchase gains from last year's insurer acquisition, nine-month net profit rose 18.7 percent.

Third-quarter net profit was 1.05 trillion won, up 4.4 percent from the previous quarter. With net profit staying above 1 trillion won for a second straight quarter after the second quarter, quarterly earnings generation showed an improving trend.

Net operating revenue for the first nine months rose 6.2 percent from a year earlier to a record 8.68 trillion won. Interest income increased as loan assets expanded, centered on corporate finance. Revenue growth was also supported by the consolidation of an insurer and the expansion of securities operations.

Net interest income for the first nine months rose 4.5 percent from a year earlier to 7.04 trillion won. Non-interest income increased 13.9 percent to 1.64 trillion won. Profit and loss related to securities fell as market interest rates rose, but the reflection of results from insurance affiliates and increased earnings in capital markets made up for it.

Cost efficiency also improved along with revenue growth. Selling, general and administrative expenses for the first nine months rose 4.6 percent from a year earlier to 3.86 trillion won, but the cost-to-income ratio (CIR) fell 0.8 percentage point to 42.3 percent. Despite cost increases such as staffing additions from bringing in insurance and securities subsidiaries, information technology investment and a hike in the education tax, revenue growth and cost controls led to improved efficiency.

Credit loss provisions came to 1.28 trillion won, down 15.7 percent from a year earlier. Third-quarter credit loss provisions were 314.0 billion won, down 28.5 percent from the previous quarter. The cumulative credit cost ratio was 0.42 percent, down 0.10 percentage point from the same period last year. Woori Financial said a reshuffle of assets toward high-quality corporate loans and proactive risk management contributed to the decline in credit costs.

Operating profit for the first nine months rose 19.5 percent from a year earlier to 3.54 trillion won. Return on common equity (ROE) rose 0.9 percentage point to 9.9 percent on a nine-month cumulative basis from 9.0 percent in the first half.

Woori Bank, its main subsidiary, posted third-quarter net profit of 1.03 trillion won, up 22 percent from the previous quarter. Among non-bank subsidiaries, Tongyang Life reported nine-month net profit of 121.6 billion won. Woori Card and Woori Financial Capital posted net profit of 133.7 billion won and 114.6 billion won, respectively. Woori Investment Securities came to 28.2 billion won and Woori Asset Management was tallied at 25.4 billion won.

The group's common equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio was provisionally tallied at 13.80 percent at end-September. That was up 0.08 percentage point from 13.72 percent in the previous quarter.

Woori Financial will continue its shareholder return policy backed by capital capacity. The board on Thursday set the third-quarter cash dividend at 220 won per share. The amount was up 10 percent from the same period last year, and Woori Financial continues to pay tax-exempt dividends.

It is also expanding the size of treasury share buybacks and cancellations. It completed the cancellation of treasury shares worth 200.0 billion won in the first half and is proceeding with an additional purchase worth 150.0 billion won in the second half. The annual total for treasury share buybacks and cancellations is 350.0 billion won, up 133.3 percent from last year.

A Woori Financial official said, "As a result of pursuing substantive growth centered on high-quality assets based on capital capacity, we delivered net profit of more than 1 trillion won for two consecutive quarters." The official added, "We will continue to expand shareholder returns by improving ROE."