Korea Exchange Bank profit down 31.3% to $259.8 million

Board appoints Chief Executive Larry Klane as the next chairman to supervise the sale of its 51% stake.

Korea Exchange Bank on Tuesday said third-quarter net profit slipped 31.3% from the same period a year earlier when it booked a significant one-time gain.

KEB, in a filing to the Korea Exchange, said net profit for the quarter was 289.97 billion won (US$259.8 million) compared with 422.07 billion won ($380.18 million) a year ago. The bank received a 229.6 billion won ($206.84 million) corporate tax refund gain in the third quarter of 2009.

Loan-loss provisions for the quarter stood at 86.8 billion won ($78.19 million), down from 239.6 billion won ($215.85 million) at the same time a year earlier. KEB also booked an 87.3 billion won ($78.67 million) gain from a sale of some shares in Hynix Semiconductor Inc.

The bank also said its board named Chief Executive Larry Klane as the next chairman after former chairman Richard Wacker stepped down to take up a new job closer to his family in the U.S.

View the full story in The Wall Street Journal.