Seoul: South Korean banks' net income from overseas business jumped 21.3 percent from a year earlier in 2024, backed by a decline in loan-loss reserves, data showed Friday. The combined net income of domestic banks' overseas operations came to US$1.61 billion last year, compared with a net profit of $1.33 billion the previous year.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the net profit from overseas accounted for 10.7 percent of their total income at 22.2 trillion won. Their return on assets, which shows the companies' profitability in relation to their total assets, climbed to 0.74 percent in 2024 from 0.63 percent the previous year, with their total assets growing 3.3 percent to $217 billion over the cited period.
The ratio of loans classified as substandard or below (SBLs) of the overseas businesses stood at 1.46 percent as of year-end 2024, down 0.28 percentage point from a year earlier, according to the financial regulator. As of end-2024, domestic banks were operating 206 subsidiaries, local branches and offices in 41 countries.