Citibank Korea, due to a sharp increase in corporate banking profits, saw a 61% rise in net profit in the first quarter

Citibank Korea achieved a net profit of 132.8 billion Korean won in the first quarter of 2026, a significant improvement compared to the same period last year. The background for this is the expansion of non-interest income centered on corporate finance such as foreign exchange, derivatives, and securities, rather than interest income.

According to the performance announced by Citibank Korea on the 15th, total revenue for the first quarter of this year was 330.5 billion Korean won, up 23% year-on-year, with net profit increasing by 61% from 82.4 billion Korean won in the first quarter of last year. The bank explained this as the best quarterly performance since 2018. Analysts believe that, amid large fluctuations in interest rates and exchange rates in domestic and international financial markets, the increased demand from corporate clients for exchange rate risk management and capital raising has driven related fees and trading results, boosting performance.

The core of this performance lies in the change in the revenue structure. Non-interest income, including gains from foreign exchange, derivatives, and securities, surged 77%, dominating overall performance. In contrast, interest income, a traditional source of bank revenue, was 104.2 billion Korean won, down 26% from the same period last year. The net interest margin also declined from 2.37% to 2.01%, a drop of 0.36 percentage points. The net interest margin, which indicates the spread between loan interest income and funding costs, decreasing suggests that relying solely on interest business is no longer as profitable as before.

Loan and deposit flows also reflect the direction of business restructuring. Total loans amounted to 97.74k trillion Korean won, a decrease of 5%, reflecting Citibank Korea’s gradual reduction of its consumer finance division. Conversely, benefiting from growth in the corporate finance sector, total deposits increased to 210 trillion Korean won, a 16% rise. This indicates that while the proportion of personal banking business has decreased, the transaction base for corporate clients has strengthened. Expenses were 156.4 billion Korean won, only 1% higher than a year ago, while loan loss provisions were reversed at 600 million Korean won. Reversal means that some previously provisioned expenses to cover potential losses have been reclassified as income, indicating a reduction in bad debt burdens in the corporate finance sector.

Profitability indicators also improved. The return on total assets for the first quarter was 0.98%, and return on equity was 9.73%. Citibank Korea President Ryu Myung-sun stated that this result was achieved through a significant increase in non-interest income from core business sectors such as foreign exchange, capital markets, and securities services amid an unstable market environment characterized by geopolitical conflicts and increased volatility in interest rates and exchange rates. This trend indicates that, in the future, Citibank Korea may further focus on corporate and capital market services after reducing consumer finance. However, given the weakening of the interest income base, future performance will largely depend on whether non-interest income can be stably maintained amid market fluctuations.