SEOUL-- Financial holding firms in South Korea saw their net income jump 40.2 percent on-year in 2021 as their banking-related business got a boost from rising lending rates, data showed Wednesday.

The combined net income of 10 financial holding firms, including KB Financial Group Inc., Shinhan Financial Group Co. and Hana Financial Group Inc., came to 21.2 trillion won (US$17.4 billion) on a consolidated basis last year, up from the previous year's 15.1 trillion won, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service.

Their income from the banking-related business logged 2.4 trillion won in net income last year, up 23.7 percent from a year earlier, while financial investment also saw its net profit surge 51.7 percent on-year to 1.7 trillion won.

Banks basked in strong profits last year as market lending rates were raised in line with the central bank's move to hike its policy rate to keep inflation in check.

The nonperforming loan (NPL) ratio for the financial holding firms stood at 0.47 percent as of end-2021, down 0.11 percentage point from a year earlier, the data showed.

The ratio of loan-loss reserves to NPLs -- a gauge of capability to absorb shock from bad loans -- stayed at 155.9 percent at the end of last year, up 24.5 percentage points from the previous year

Their debt ratio also declined 0.96 percentage point on-year to 27.91 percent as of end-2021.

Their combined assets expanded 8.7 percent over the cited period to 3,203 trillion won, the data showed.

Source: Yonhap News Agency