IBK Industrial Bank of Korea's net profit for the third quarter rose slightly from a year earlier. Improved interest income supported the results, but cumulative net profit fell and asset quality indicators worsened.

IBK Industrial Bank of Korea said on Oct. 26 that its consolidated net profit for the third quarter came to 771.2 billion won, up 2.7 percent from the same period a year earlier.

Net profit for January to September totalled 2.21 trillion won, down 2.0 percent from a year earlier.

The bank said improved interest income, driven by solid growth in interest-earning assets, supported its third-quarter performance.

Its net interest margin (NIM) in the third quarter was 1.61 percent, up 0.02 percentage point from 1.59 percent in the second quarter. That was 0.04 percentage point higher than 1.57 percent in the third quarter a year earlier.

Asset quality indicators, however, worsened. The ratio of substandard or below loans rose to 1.31 percent at the end of the third quarter from 1.27 percent at the end of the second quarter, and the delinquency ratio climbed to 1.04 percent from 0.94 percent over the same period.

The balance of small and medium-sized enterprise loans stood at 272 trillion won at the end of the third quarter, up 2 trillion won from 270 trillion won at the end of the second quarter. It increased by 10.1 trillion won from 261.9 trillion won at the end of last year. The bank's share of the domestic SME loan market, however, edged down 0.1 percentage point to 24.5 percent from 24.6 percent.

An Industrial Bank of Korea official said it would continue to strengthen competitiveness by expanding the supply of policy finance for micro business owners and the self-employed as well as for advanced and innovative companies, and through artificial intelligence (AI) transformation.