SEOUL, May 23 (Xinhua) -- South Korean banks' combined net income rose in double digits in the first quarter due to a one-off factor, financial watchdog data showed Friday.
Net income of domestic banks totaled 6.9 trillion won (5.0 billion U.S. dollars) in the January-March quarter, up 28.7 percent compared to the same quarter of last year, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.
The exclusion of compensation relevant to equity-linked security (ELS), paid by banks in the first quarter of last year, contributed to the double-digit increase.
Interest income slipped 0.8 percent from a year earlier to 14.8 trillion won (10.7 billion dollars) in the first quarter.
Interest-bearing assets expanded 5.3 percent, but net interest margin retreated 0.10 percentage points to 1.53 percent in the cited quarter.
The country's central bank cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point to 2.75 percent in February, after lowering it by the same percentage point in October and November last year.
Non-interest income gained 6.6 percent to 2.0 trillion won (1.5 billion dollars) in the first quarter on higher income from securities trading and valuation.
Loan-loss expenses jumped 23.9 percent to 1.6 trillion won (1.2 billion dollars) following the corporate rehabilitation of Homeplus, the country's second-biggest hypermarket chain.
The return on assets for domestic banks, a key gauge of profitability, added 0.13 percentage points to 0.71 percent in the cited quarter, while the return on equity advanced 1.75 percentage points to 9.55 percent. Enditem
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