SEOUL– Citibank Korea Inc., the South Korean unit of Citigroup Inc., on Friday reported a 21 percent on-year rise in its second-quarter net profit thanks to increased interest revenue.
Consolidated net profit stood at 38.7 billion won (US$29.7 million) for the April-June quarter, up from 32 billion won a year earlier, the lender said in a statement.
Its total revenue, however, shrank 23.7 percent on-year to 210.9 billion won.
Interest revenue stood at 202.2 billion won, up 0.8 percent from a year earlier. In particular, the net interest margin, a key gauge of profitability, climbed 0.34 percentage point on-year to 2.18 percent, the bank said.
Profitability improved in line with the central bank’s series of rate hikes to tame inflation.
In July, the Bank of Korea raised its key interest rate by 0.5 percentage point to 2.25 percent, the steepest and sixth increase in borrowing costs since August last year.
As Citibank Korea is closing down its retail business “in phases,” including asset management, its non-interest revenue plunged 88.5 percent over the same period to 8.7 billion won.
Source: Yonhap News Agency