Seoul:Woori Financial Group Inc. announced a significant drop in its net profit for the third quarter, attributing the decline to a one-off factor. The group's net profit for the July-September period stood at 1.04 trillion won (US$784 million), marking a 15.7 percent decrease from the previous year.

According to Yonhap News Agency, despite the decrease, Woori Financial's earnings surpassed market expectations. Analysts had predicted an average net profit of 963.4 billion won, based on a survey conducted by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency.

For the first nine months of the year, Woori Financial recorded a net profit of 2.66 trillion won, a 4.9 percent decline on a year-on-year basis. However, during the July-September period, the company experienced a 43.6 percent increase in operating profit, amounting to 1.41 trillion won, and a 66.2 percent rise in revenue to 13.3 trillion won.

Interest income for the third quarter rose by 1.7 percent year-on-year to 2.37 trillion won. Conversely, non-interest income fell by 7.6 percent to 581 billion won during the same period.

Woori Financial's main subsidiary, Woori Bank, reported a substantial increase in its third-quarter net profit, reaching 1.02 trillion won compared to 736 billion won the previous year.