SEOUL-- South Korean banks' overseas operations saw their earnings jump nearly 62 percent in 2021 from a year earlier on higher interest income, data showed Wednesday.

The combined net profit of local lenders' 204 overseas subsidiaries and branches stood at US$1.17 billion in 2021, up 62.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service.

The spike in net profit came as their interest income surged by $644 million last year from the previous year, the regulator said.

Operations in Cambodia posted the largest profit increase of $290 million, followed by those in Hong Kong with $214 million and those in Vietnam with $172 million.

The combined assets of those overseas operations came to $183.22 billion as of end-December, up 11 percent from a year earlier.

The number of banks' overseas units was up seven from a year earlier, with those in Asian nations reaching 141, or 69.1 percent of the total.

Their bad loan ratio stood at 1.91 percent as of the end of last year, down 0.22 percentage points from a year ago, according to the data.

Source: Yonhap News Agency