Hana Financial Group Co. on Friday said its first-quarter net profit dropped by 6.2 percent on costs to pay compensation to customers who suffered massive losses on the purchases of equity-linked securities. Its net profit reached 1.03 trillion won (US$757 million), down from a profit of 1.1 trillion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. Operating profit for the January-March period rose 2.9 percent on-year to 1.56 trillion won. Revenue increased 0.2 percent to 22.44 trillion won. Hana Financial said it set aside some 180 billion won in reserves for the compensation of incomplete sales involving equity-linked securities products tracking Hong Kong's H Index. Its interest income rose 2.1 percent on-year to 2.22 trillion won in the first quarter, with its non-interest income dipping 8.5 percent to 713 billion won. The group's net interest margin, the difference between interest received and paid, came to 1.77 percent in the first quarter, up from 1.76 percent a year earlier. Sourc e: Yonhap News Agency