Seoul: South Korean banks' net income from overseas business slightly increased by 2.3 percent from a year earlier in 2025, backed by a rise in interest incomes, data showed Thursday. The combined net income of domestic banks' overseas operations came to US$1.65 billion last year, compared with a net profit of $1.61 billion the previous year.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the net profit from overseas accounted for 9.8 percent of their total income at 24.1 trillion won. The data indicated that while the banks' overseas net income saw a modest rise, their return on assets decreased slightly to 0.71 percent in 2025 from 0.74 percent the previous year. This decline occurred even as their total assets grew by 7.4 percent to $233.13 billion over the cited period.
Additionally, the ratio of loans classified as substandard or below (SBLs) held by overseas businesses stood at 1.36 percent as of year-end 2025, reflecting a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from a year earlier, according to the financial regulator. As of the end of 2025, domestic banks were operating 211 subsidiaries, local branches, and offices in 41 countries.