S. Korean banks` financial health improves in Q1

SEOUL, June 1 (Yonhap) -- The capital adequacy ratio of South Korean banks rose
to a new record high in March as their net income sharply rose amid a decline in
risk-weighted assets, the financial regulator said Tuesday
The average ratio of 18 lenders' capital to risk-weighted assets reached 14.66
percent as of the end of March, up 0.3 percentage point from three months
earlier, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).
The ratio, a key barometer of financial soundness, measures the percentage of a
bank's capital to its risk-weighted assets.
In the first quarter, their equity capital rose 1.6 percent on-quarter, while
risk-weighted assets declined 0.5 percent amid the local currency's gain to the
U.S. dollar, the watchdog said.
The lenders' tier-one ratio, a barometer of core capital, reached 11.35 percent
as of end-March, up from 10.93 percent from the previous quarter, it added.
The FSS said it will continue to advise local banks to maintain sound capital
adequacy ratios as uncertainty in the global financial markets lingers amid the
European debt crisis.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
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