[THE INVESTOR] Korean banks reported a 1.3 percent decline in their combined net profit in the first quarter of this year, due to a fall in non-interest income, data showed on May 10.
Combined net profit at the nation’s banks fell to 4.4 trillion won (US$4.06 billion) for the January-March period, compared with a profit of 4.5 trillion won a year ago, the Financial Supervisory Service said in a statement.
“The decline was mostly because non-interest income shrank 28.4 percent based on decreases in securities trading income and FX/derivatives income,” the FSS said.
Preliminary interest income for the quarter stood at 9.7 trillion won, up 9.9 percent from a year earlier, it said.
Loan-loss expenditures fell 43 percent on-year to 800 billion won as restructuring efforts in the sectors of shipbuilding and shipping came to an end, the FSS said.
The average net interest margin of the banks, a key barometer of profitability, rose to 1.66 percent for the quarter from 1.58 percent a year ago.
By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (
ssh@heraldcorp.com)