Standard Chartered Bank Korea announced on the 14th that it recorded a net profit of 208.6 billion won in the first half of this year. This is a 2.4% increase compared to the same period last year.
Interest income for the first half was 609.8 billion won, which decreased by 4.1% due to a decline in net interest margin (NIM) despite an increase in customer loans. In contrast, non-interest income recorded 205.9 billion won, a 4.1% increase due to gains related to foreign exchange and derivatives.
Operating expenses amounted to 457.4 billion won, an increase of 4.8% compared to the previous year due to rising labor costs. The provision for loan losses recorded 101.9 billion won, which is an increase of 104% compared to the same period last year. This is the result of additional provisions related to the TMON and WeMakePrice incidents and provisions made for receivables related to derivatives.
The return on assets (ROA) was 0.46%, similar to the same period last year, while the return on equity (ROE) was 7.61%, down 0.04 percentage points compared to the same period last year. The provision coverage ratio for loan losses recorded 181.41%, down 29.76 percentage points during the same period, and the ratio of non-performing loans was 0.49%, up 0.06 percentage points.
The total capital ratio and the common equity tier 1 (CET1) ratio of BIS improved by 1.62 percentage points and 2.05 percentage points, respectively, to 21.35% and 18.12% compared to the end of December last year.