Chairman Kim Kwang-soo of NH Financial Group.(Photo: NHFG)

NH Financial Group said Oct. 26 that its net profit over the first nine months of 2018 soared 47.9 percent on-year, thanks to a decline in loan-loss provisions and robust interest income.
Net profit stood at 1.07 trillion won ($936 million) for the nine months that ended Sept. 30, compared with a profit of 728.5 billion won for the same period last year, NH Financial said in a statement.

Loan-loss provisions fell 36.4 percent on-year to 459.8 billion won for the nine months, while interest income rose 9.9 percent on-year to 5.8 trillion won.

The net profit of Nonghyup Bank, the flagship banking arm of NH Financial, stood at 933.9 billion won for the months. However, Nonghyup Bank’s net profit declined 24.3 percent on-quarter to 265.5 billion won in the third quarter. Its net interest margin, a key barometer of profitability, was unchanged at 1.9 percent at the end of September.

NH Investment & Securities reported a net profit of 350.5 billion won for the nine months, NH Financial said.

Nonghyup is a public agricultural cooperative whose key stakeholders include farms and other agricultural businesses. In addition to its banking affiliate, the group also operates securities firms and asset managers.

The rise of NH Financial Group to the nation’s fourth-largest financial group has not only reshaped the local financial landscape, but also wowed critics who had been skeptical of whether it was capable of such a feat. In the recent process of acquiring Woori Investment & Securities, Woori Aviva Life Insurance and Woori Savings Bank, the group has beaten Woori Financial Group in terms of assets.

“NH Financial is now ready to compete with the industry’s top players.” said the NH Financial Group chairman. Despite the rise to stardom, NH stresses that the company will always stand out from its peers due to its roots in the agricultural sector.

“We have a long-standing relationship with local farmers that has formed the bedrock of our current nationwide business network that still places the highest priority on ordinary Koreans.” said Cha Jong-in, an NH Financial spokesman.

NH Financial kicked off in 2012, but its roots go back to 1961 when its precursor, the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation ― or NongHyup ― was created to protect the rights of farmers and promote the agricultural industry.

Following NongHyup’s decision spin off its credit business, NH Financial was born in 2012 as a financial holding company handling banking, insurance, futures, securities and asset management.

Since then, NH Financial has been steadily expanding in size and scope but few expected that it could take over Woori’s brokerage houses.

Upon completing the 1 trillion won ($966 million) acquisition in June, NH not only became the country’s fourth-largest financial group, but it now controls Korea’s largest brokerage unit.

NH Financial’s assets are likely to grow to 290 trillion won in the near future, according to industry estimates earlier this year, to trail on the heels of KB Financial Group and Hana Financial Group, which hold assets of 296 trillion won and 295 trillion won, respectively.

Citing the growth potential, the group chairman said he expects NH Financial to grow into one of the nation’s most conspicuous financial groups by 2020.

To achieve this goal, The chairman has pledged to increase the group’s total assets to 420 trillion won, and to raise the proportion of non-banking businesses to 4 percent of the company’s portfolio.

He also claimed that NH would focus on devising long-term strategies and refrain from interfering in affiliates ― citing recent power struggles that have erupted between some of the nation’s financial holding companies and their affiliates.