South Korea's No. 3 banking group Hana Financial Group Inc. said Friday its third-quarter earnings jumped 63 percent from a year earlier on lending growth and smaller loan-loss reserves.

Net profit amounted to 377.5 billion won (US$356 million) in the July-September period, compared with 231.6 billion won the previous year, the group, which bought Korea Exchange Bank early last year, said in a regulatory filing.

Compared with three months earlier, net income jumped 62.9 percent in the third quarter.

The group's third-quarter bottom line was smaller than a consensus of 386 billion won in a poll made by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news arm of Yonhap News Agency.

The group's net interest margin, a gauge of profitability, reached 1.9 percent in the third quarter, down 0.07 percentage point from the second quarter, as market rates have stabilized amid the central bank's accommodative stance.

Hana Financial said that its loan-loss reserves declined by 113.5 billion won compared with three months earlier.

The group's total assets stood at 367.7 trillion won as of end-September, down 2.2 trillion won from three months earlier.

Hana Bank, the flagship unit of the group, meanwhile, posted a net profit of 175.4 billion won in the third quarter, up 39.8 percent from a year earlier.

Shares of Hana Financial Group closed at 42,500 won on the main bourse, up 1.19 percent from the previous session. The results were released after the market closed. (Yonhap News)