Seoul: South Korean banks' net profit experienced a decline in the third quarter of the year compared to the previous quarter, primarily due to a reduction in interest income, as indicated by the latest data. According to Yonhap News Agency, the cumulative net profit for 20 banks during the July-October period amounted to 6.2 trillion won (US$4.44 billion), representing a 13.9 percent decrease from the preceding three months. However, when compared to the same period last year, this figure reflects a 14.8 percent increase. The interest income for these 20 banks totaled 14.6 trillion won in the third quarter, a reduction of 300 billion won from the previous quarter. In contrast, their non-interest income increased by 800 billion won, reaching 2.3 billion won during the same period, as reported by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). The banks' return on assets ratio experienced a decrease of 0.12 percentage points, settling at 0.65 percent for the cited period. Similarly, the return on equity ratio decl ined by 1.83 percentage points to 8.55 percent. Over the first nine months of the year, the combined net profit of these banks also saw a decline of 3.4 percent, totaling 18.8 trillion won. Despite this, their interest income showed a slight increase of 0.6 percent, amounting to 44.4 trillion won.