▲ This undated file photo shows ATMs run by major banks in Seoul. (Yonhap)

banks-Q1 earnings

Banks' Q1 earnings down on fall in non-interest income

SEOUL, May 20 (Yonhap) -- South Korean banks' net profit edged down in the first quarter of the year from a year earlier due mainly to a fall in non-interest income, data showed Wednesday.

The combined net profit of 20 banks came to 6.7 trillion won (US$4.47 billion) in the January-March period, down 0.3 trillion won, or 3.9 percent, from 6.9 trillion won in net profit recorded a year earlier, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).

Their interest income came to 15.8 trillion won in the first quarter, up 1 trillion won, or 6.4 percent, from a year earlier.

Non-interest income came to 1.3 trillion won in the January-March period, down 0.7 trillion won, or 35.6 percent, over the cited period, according to the FSS.

Their costs to cover loan losses came in at 1.4 trillion won in the first quarter, down 0.3 trillion won, or 16.2 percent, from a year before.

The banks' return on assets ratio rose to 0.64 percent in the first quarter, down from 0.71 percent a year earlier, while their return on equity ratio also fell 0.89 percentage point to 8.68 percent over the cited period, the data showed.

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