Export-Import Bank of Korea suffers first loss in 2016

Published : Mar 31, 2017 - 11:08 Updated : Mar 31, 2017 - 14:21

The Export-Import Bank of Korea, one of South Korea's state-run policy banks, suffered a net loss of 1.46 trillion won ($1.3 billion) last year, hit by higher provisions against its loans extended to the country's ailing shipbuilding industry.

It was the first time that the bank reported an annual net loss since its foundation in 1976, according to the bank's audit report posted on its website Friday.

(Yonhap)

The bank reported a net profit of 41.1 billion won in 2015, the report showed.

The bank and another state-run Korea Development Bank, major creditors of the troubled Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., announced last week a fresh rescue package worth 6.7 trillion won to the cash-hungry shipbuilder.

The rescue package will be offered only if all stakeholders agree to a painful debt-for-equity swap plan.

The Export-Import Bank of Korea's total exposure to Daewoo Shipbuilding is estimated to stand at about 10 trillion won, according to Fitch Ratings, an international ratings agency.

The bank's loan-loss provisions jumped to 3.2 trillion won last year, from 1.06 trillion won a year earlier. (Yonhap)