The Financial Supervisory Service said on the 19th that domestic banks' net income last year totaled 24.1 trillion won, up 8.2% from a year earlier.
Net income at commercial banks came to 16.2 trillion won, increasing mainly among nationwide banks and internet-only banks. Regional banks posted 1.2 trillion won, down 30 billion won from a year earlier. Nationwide banks recorded 14.3 trillion won, up 1.3 trillion won, and internet-only banks logged 700 billion won, up 100 billion won. Policy banks also saw net income rise to 7.8 trillion won, up 400 billion won from 7.4 trillion won a year earlier.
The return on assets (ROA) of domestic banks last year was 0.59%, up 0.01 percentage points (p) from 0.58% a year earlier. ROA at commercial banks rose 0.02 percentage points to 0.62%, while policy banks slipped 0.001 percentage points to 0.55%. Return on equity (ROE) was 7.93%, up 0.17 percentage points from 7.76% a year earlier. Commercial banks' ROE climbed 0.43 percentage points to 9.36%, while policy banks fell 0.12 percentage points to 6.02%.
Interest income at domestic banks last year was 60.4 trillion won, up 1.1 trillion won from 59.3 trillion won a year earlier. Net interest margin (NIM) fell 0.06 percentage points to 1.51% from 1.57% a year earlier. However, as interest-earning assets increased by 151.8 trillion won (4.6%) from 3,290.2 trillion won to 3,442 trillion won, interest income rose despite the decline in NIM. Non-interest income last year was 7.6 trillion won, up 1.6 trillion won from 6 trillion won a year earlier. Selling and administrative expenses last year were 29.4 trillion won, up 2 trillion won from 27.4 trillion won a year earlier.
Credit loss expenses at domestic banks last year were 6.5 trillion won, down 400 billion won from 7 trillion won a year earlier. Commercial banks posted 4.7 trillion won, up 400 billion won, with nationwide banks at 3 trillion won, up 700 billion won. In contrast, regional banks recorded 800 billion won, down 100 billion won, and internet-only banks also came in at 900 billion won, down 100 billion won. Policy banks registered 1.8 trillion won, down 900 billion won, the largest decrease.
The Financial Supervisory Service projected that domestic and external uncertainties will increase this year due to heightened geopolitical risks from the Middle East, U.S. tariff policy, and greater volatility in interest rates and exchange rates. The Financial Supervisory Service said it plans to continue guiding banks to strengthen their loss-absorbing capacity so they can stably perform their core financial intermediation function even if economic conditions at home and abroad deteriorate.