S.Korea KB Fin Q3 net down; margin recovery slows

SEOUL, Oct 29 (Reuters) - KB Financial Group (105560.KS), the parent company of South Korea's largest bank Kookmin, said on Thursday its quarterly net profit tumbled 69 percent, pressured by heavy provisioning costs and slow margin recovery.

KB Financial (KB.N) posted a net profit of 173.7 billion won ($145 million) in the quarter ended September, versus 568.0 billion won a year ago and 109.9 billion won in the second quarter. The results missed an average forecast of 306.8 billion won from analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

KB Financial has lagged domestic rivals such as Shinhan Financial Group (055550.KS) and Hana Financial Group (086790.KS) in the pace of recovery in net interest margins and provisioning costs because of its heavy exposure to small-sized companies.

Its shares more than doubled from March lows on signs of an economic turnaround. ($1=1198.9 Won) (Reporting by Kim Yeon-hee; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)