SEOUL, March 14 (Xinhua) -- South Korean banks' combined net income hit a record high last year due to a double-digit fall in loan loss expenses, financial watchdog data showed Friday.
Net income of local banks totaled a fresh high of 22.4 trillion won (15.4 billion U.S. dollars) in 2024, up 5.5 percent compared to the previous year, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.
Loan-loss expenses dropped 30.9 percent to 6.9 trillion won (4.7 billion dollars) last year, offsetting an expansion in non-operating losses that was caused by compensation relevant to equity-linked securities.
Interest income inched up 0.2 percent over the year to 59.3 trillion won (40.8 billion dollars) in 2024 after increasing 5.8 percent in the previous year.
The average net income margin, or difference between interest received and interest paid, fell 0.08 percentage points to 1.57 percent last year.
Non-interest income added 2.9 percent to 6.0 trillion won (4.1 billion dollars) on higher profit from securities trading and valuation.
The return on assets for domestic banks, a key gauge of profitability, stood unchanged at 0.58 percent in the cited year, while the return on equity slipped 0.08 percentage points to 7.80 percent. ■
