President Won Gee-chan of Samsung Card.

Samsung Card Co. on Friday reported its third-quarter net income of 90.8 billion won (US$ 78.4 million), up 12.5 percent from a year earlier.

The company said in a regulatory filing that it posted 120.1 billion won in operating profit for the quarter, compared with 108.6 billion won a year ago. Revenue rose 5.9 percent to 861.5 billion won.

Samsung Card CEO Won Gee-chan is in a tight spot. The credit card company lost a Costco deal to Hyundai Card. It had one of the weakest profits among the card companies in 2018. Its weak profit has widened the gap with KB Kookmin Card, the No. 2 player after Shinhan Card.

Hyundai Card, the No. 4 card firm, is closely catching up to No. 3 Samsung Card, after Hyundai sealed the partnership deal with Costco. Its stock price is trading at around 33,000 won, down from its 52-week high of 40,100 won.

The government is forcing credit card companies to lower their transaction fee rates charged to small businesses.

Also, rules on nonbank lending are getting tighter as the regulator seeks to curb rising household loans. These negative factors are further making the future of Samsung Card and Chief Executive Won uncertain.

The market has, in fact, raised concerns since Won was named Samsung Card CEO in December 2013 on whether he would be fit to manage and run a financial company.

This was because he practically had no experience in finance and technology as his background had been in human resources management. Previously, he was a senior vice president of human resources at Samsung Electronics before joining Samsung Card. Won began working for Samsung Electronics' human resources department in 1984.

Samsung Card has also constantly been rumored to be on sale as Samsung Group is seemingly seeking to focus on its core technology business. To alleviate concerns over its outlook, Samsung Card has decided to increase dividends to its shareholders, despite weak earnings.

The 3.9 trillion won ($3.5 billion) market cap card will pay 1,600 won per share in dividends, up 100 won from fiscal 2017.

Its dividend payout ratio, to this end, increased to almost 50 percent, up 7 percentage points over the same period. This is in spite of Samsung Card's net profit decreasing nearly 11 percent to 345.3 billion won in 2018.

A view of the Samsung Head Office building located near South Gate in Seoul. (Photos: Samsung Card)