Accounting for 8% of Total Net Income
The Financial Supervisory Service announced on March 19 that the current net income of South Korean banks’ overseas branches totaled US$983 million in 2018 with a year-on-year growth of 22.2 percent. The amount is equivalent to 8 percent of the banks’ net income for the same period. The total credit cost of the branches increased by US$44 million whereas their interest income and non-interest income rose US$286 million and US$80 million, respectively.
By region, the current net income of the branches located in Hong Kong totaled US$175 million. It was followed by China (US$154 million) and Vietnam (US$132 million). The income showed a positive growth in every country except for the United States, Japan and Indonesia. In 2018, the number of South Korean banks’ overseas branches rose by four to 189 in 39 countries.
The branches, with 131 located in Asia, include 19 in Vietnam, 16 in China, 15 in India, 12 in Myanmar, 11 in Hong Kong. The total assets of the branches rose by US$9.37 billion to US$114.25 billion last year.
Specifically, their loans and marketable securities increased by US$7.24 billion and US$1.53 billion, respectively. Their non-performing loan ratio fell from 0.93 percent to 0.6 percent in 2018. The ratio rose from 1.1 percent to 1.53 percent in Indonesia and from 0.25 percent to 0.3 percent in Singapore whereas it fell in the other regions.