NH Financial's H1 net hits record high on increased interest income

SEOUL, July 26 (Yonhap) -- South Korean financial holding firm NH Financial Group Inc. said Tuesday its first-half earnings reached an all-time high thanks to increased interest income.

Net income came to 1.35 trillion won (US$1.03 billion) in the January-June period, up 5.3 percent from a year earlier and a record half-year tally, NH Financial said in a statement.

In the second quarter, its bottom line also climbed 11.3 percent on-year to 754.2 billion won.

NH, or Nonghyup, refers to the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, whose key stakeholders include farms and other agricultural businesses.

The financial group attributed the record first-half profit to a jump in interest income amid high interest rates.

NH Financial said its interest income stood at 4.57 trillion won in the first half, up nearly 400 billion won from a year earlier, on more loans to corporate borrowers.

The ratio of its nonperforming loans came to 0.29 percent, with that of loan-loss reserves reaching about 247 percent.

Nonghyup Bank, the group's flagship banking arm, reported a net income of 922.8 billion won in the first half, up 7.8 percent from a year earlier.

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