IBK net income up 5.3% on improved lending

Industrial Bank of Korea's fourth-quarter earnings rose 5.3 percent from a year earlier on improved lending margins.

Net profit came to US$217.3 million in the October-December period, compared with US$206.89 million the previous year, the bank said in a regulatory filing. Compared with three months earlier, its earnings declined 33.6 percent.

For all of 2010, the state-run bank posted a net profit of US$1.17 billion won, up 81.6 percent from a year earlier.

   "The bottom line increased on improvements in the net lending margin and a rise in interest income sparked by asset growth," said the bank, which mostly caters to small and medium enterprises.

Its net interest margin, a gauge of profitability from lending, came in at 2.76 percent in the fourth quarter, up from 2.63 percent the previous year, the bank said.

Korean lenders' NIMs have been on the rise as banks can charge borrowers more as the country's central bank has raised the key interest rates since July. IBK's interest income jumped 22.3 percent on-year to US$3.9 billion in 2010.