South Korean banks saw their net income decline sharply in the first quarter from a year earlier, but gross income rose slightly, the country’s financial watchdog said Sunday.

The combined net profit of local banks was an estimated 3.5 trillion won ($3.09 billion) for the January-March period, down 1 trillion won from a year earlier but up 4.1 trillion won from the previous quarter, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.

Their gross income, however, increased by around 100 billion won to 12 trillion won over the cited period.

Lenders’ interest income reached 9.7 trillion won during the period, unchanged from a year earlier, with their non-interest income edging down to 2.2 trillion won from 2.3 trillion won.

Banks’ loan-loss reserves amounted to 2.4 trillion won for the first quarter, up 700 billion won from the previous year.

Their return on equity, or the rate of return on ownership interest, came to 10.28 percent for the first quarter, down 2.89 percentage points from a year earlier.

Landers’ return on assets, or the percentage of profit to overall resources, reached 0.77 percent during the period, down 0.28 percentage point, according to the watchdog. 

(Yonhap News)