South Korean banks reported a 4 percent rise in their combined net profit for the first half of this year, thanks to a solid rise in interest income, data showed Thursday.
The combined net profit at banks stood at 8.4 trillion won (US$7.4 billion) for the January-June period, compared with profits of 8.1 trillion won a year ago, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said in a statement.
Preliminary interest income for the first half stood at 19.7 trillion won, up 9.5 percent from a year earlier, it said.
Loan-loss expenditures fell 61.8 percent on-year to 1 trillion won as restructuring efforts in the sectors of shipbuilding and shipping came to an end, the FSS said.
"The decline was mostly because newly delinquent loans decreased from the previous year while resolved loans expanded," it said.
The average net interest margin of the banks, a key barometer of profitability, stood at 1.67 percent for the first half, up 0.06 percentage point from a year ago. (yonhap)