[By NBC-1TV H. J Yook]Citibank Korea Inc., (CKI, CEO YK Ha, www.citibank.co.kr) today reported net income of KRW 59.9 billion for the second quarter 2013 on revenues of KRW 379.5 billion. Net income 2Q13 was 18.1% higher year over year and 4.8% higher than the prior quarter while revenues were 2.2% lower than year over year and 4.3% lower than the prior quarter. CKI’s Basel II Capital Adequacy Ratio and Tier 1 Capital Ratio were 17.39% and 14.39% as of June 30, 2013, respectively, each under local regulatory guidelines.

Non-interest revenues in 2Q13 rose KRW 34.4 billion to 46.7 billion from the same period last year mainly due to higher FX/derivatives gains and higher income from insurance and investment products sales

Interest revenue in 2Q13 was down 12.5% year over year to KRW 326.5 billion mainly due to a decrease in earning assets from continued asset optimization, offset by NIM improvement by 5 bps from deposit optimization efforts.

Expenses in 2Q13 were down 1.7% year over year to KRW 211.0 billion and down 3.9% from the prior quarter mainly due to the continued focus on re-engineering efforts.

Loan loss provisions & other allowances in 2Q13 were KRW 89.0 billion, up KRW 12.3 billion year over year mainly due to release of tax audit reserves in 2Q12 and litigation reserves build, offset by lower loan loss reserve build, but down KRW 12.5 billion from the prior quarter due to improved delinquency ratios and decrease in reserves for unused commitment. The non-performing loan (NPL) ratio improved 0.15% quarter over quarter and 0.02% year over year to 1.27% and NPL coverage ratio was 196.7%, up 19.1% year over year.

At the end of Jun 2013, customer loans decreased by 10.2% year over year mainly driven by RAC tightening & asset optimization including the reduction of mortgage loans. Customer deposits were down 14.9% year over year to KRW 32.3 trillion as a result of our continued deposit optimization effort.

“We are seeing some encouraging signs in our Korean business from net income improvement and higher non-interest revenues from increased investment product sales. Korea is one of our most important markets globally where we have a well-balanced franchise across retail and institutional banking and our priority is to focus on improving profitability, productivity and efficiency.” said YK Ha, CEO of CKI.