▲ This photo provided by KB Kookmin Bank shows its headquarters in western Seoul. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

(LEAD) KB Financial-Q3 earnings

(LEAD) KB Financial Q3 net soars 18 pct on increased interest, commission income

(ATTN: CHANGES headline, lead; UPDATES with additional information throughout; ADDS photo)

SEOUL, Oct. 24 (Yonhap) -- KB Financial Group Inc. on Thursday reported its third-quarter net income soared 18 percent from a year earlier on the back of increased interest income.

Net profit reached 1.61 trillion won (US$1.17 billion) in the July-September period, compared with a profit of 1.37 trillion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Operating income for the quarter rose to 2.36 trillion won from 1.95 trillion won a year earlier, while revenue sank 16.7 percent on-year to 15.49 trillion won.

The earnings beat market expectations. The average estimate of net profit by analysts stood at 1.54 trillion won, according to a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency.

In the first three quarters of the year, KB Financial racked up 4.39 trillion won in net profit.

The financial holding company said interest income rose in the third quarter and commission income soared as well.

In the third quarter, KB Financial reported an interest income of 3.17 trillion won, up 1.3 percent from a year earlier.

Non-interest income spiked 61 percent on-year in the third quarter to 1.34 trillion won.

The group's net interest margin, the difference between interest received and paid, came to 1.95 percent in the third quarter, down 0.14 basis point from a year earlier.

The financial holding company said it set aside some 553 billion won in reserves, with its total loan-loss reserves reaching 981 billion won.

KB Kookmin Bank's net profit stood at 1.11 trillion won in the third quarter, up 11.5 percent from a year earlier.

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