Wooribank Vietnam is among the most popular foreign lenders in the country

South Korean banks' overseas businesses had their profits soar roughly 62 per cent in 2021 from a year earlier on stronger interest income, according to The Korea Times.

The cumulative net profits of local lenders' over 200 abroad subsidiaries and offices were $1.17 billion in 2021, increasing 62.1 per cent from a year earlier, cited the Korean’s Financial Supervisory Service.

As a result of the rise in interest income, these foreign operations' net profits increased by $644 million last year.

Businesses in Cambodia boasted the biggest profit growth of $290 million, followed by those in Hong Kong with $214 million and in Vietnam with $172 million.

The aggregated assets of those international subsidiaries rose to $183.22 billion as of the end of December, up 11 per cent from a year earlier.

Shinhan Bank and Woori Bank are among nine foreign-owned banks in Vietnam whose activities remain robust thanks to strong South Korean inflows.

Aside from these two lenders, other financial institutions, such as KB, KEB Hana Bank, and IBK, operate under the branch and transaction office concepts.

"Their bad loan ratio stood at 1.91 per cent as of the end of last year, down 0.22 percentage points from a year ago," The Korea Times estimated.