Shinhan Financial Q3 net beats fcast on margin rise

SEOUL, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Shinhan Financial Group (055550.KS), South Korea's biggest financial services firm, on Tuesday reported a 52 percent jump in quarterly profit on rebounding interest margins and lower bad loan charges.

Shinhan (SHG.N), in which France's BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA) held a 8 percent stake as of end-June, earned 491.3 billion won ($417.2 million) in the quarter ended September, against 323.3 billion won a year ago and 439.7 billion won in the second quarter.

The results topped an average forecast by analysts for 372.1 billion won, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Its net interest margin, a key profitability measure, increased by 28 basis points to 3.05 percent from the second quarter, as it replaced high-yielding deposit products maturing in the third quarter with lower-yielding products.

There are growing expectations for a rise in policy rates to lift lenders' interest margins further, as government stimulus packages come to an end and signs of asset price bubbles emerge.

($1=1177.5 Won)

(Reporting by Kim Yeon-hee; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)