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SEOUL, July 23 (Yonhap) -- Shinhan Financial Group said Thursday its net profit rose nearly 18 percent from a year earlier to a record quarterly high in the second quarter, supported by a rise in both interest and non-interest income.

Second-quarter net income came to 1.82 trillion won (US$1.24 billion), up 17.5 percent from a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.

The earnings beat market expectations. The average estimate of net profit by analysts stood at 1.69 trillion won, according to a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency.

In the first half of the year, the financial group's net profit also reached a record high of 3.44 trillion won, up 13.3 percent from a year earlier, it said.

Its operating income for the April-June period stood at 2.47 trillion won, up 22.9 percent from a year ago, and revenue rose 7.9 percent to 25.06 trillion won over the cited period.

The financial company said it set aside 437 billion won in loan-loss reserves in the second quarter, down 14.7 percent from the previous quarter. During the first half, its loan-loss reserves stood at 940 billion won, also down 10.8 percent from a year earlier.

The latest numbers revealed that interest income for the second quarter rose 9.4 percent on-year to a record high of 3.13 trillion won, while non-interest income advanced 14.6 percent to a record peak of 1.44 trillion won over the cited period.

Shinhan Bank, the group's flagship bank, reported a net profit of 1.31 trillion won for the second quarter, up 14.3 percent from a year earlier.

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