SEOUL, May 17 (Xinhua) -- South Korean banks' net profit logged a double-digit fall in the first quarter owing to a one-off factor, financial watchdog data showed Friday.
The combined net profit of local banks came to 5.3 trillion won (3.9 billion U.S. dollars) in the January-March quarter, down 24.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).
Interest income added 1.6 percent from a year earlier to 14.9 trillion won (11 billion dollars) in the first quarter due to an increase in interest-bearing assets that offset lower net interest margin (NIM).
The average NIM, or the difference between interest received and interest paid, declined 0.05 percentage points to 1.63 percent in the cited quarter.
Non-interest income retreated 19.3 percent to 1.7 trillion won (1.3 billion dollars) as higher market rates led to decrease in the securities-related income.
Domestic banks recorded a non-operating loss of 2.2 trillion won (1.6 billion dollars) in the first quarter on the back of the one-off compensation related to equity-linked securities (ELS).
Loan-loss provisions dived 34.6 percent to 1.1 trillion won (812 million dollars) in the first quarter after banks sharply expanded loan-loss reserves in the first quarter of last year to brace for uncertainties.
The return on assets (ROA), a key gauge of profitability, dipped 0.22 percentage points to 0.57 percent in the cited quarter, while the return on equity (ROE) dropped 3.26 percentage points to 7.79 percent. ■
