Foreign bank branches in South Korea saw their earnings almost halve in the first six months of this year from a year earlier due to losses from securities investments, the financial regulator said Tuesday.

The combined net income of foreign banks' 37 local branches came to 538.5 billion won (US$512.4 million) in the January-June period, down 43.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).

The tumble in their bottom line was attributed largely to losses from securities trading and a drop in the value of their holdings, the FSS said.

The local branches posted a net loss of 26.2 billion won from investments in securities in the six-month period, a sharp turnaround from a 346.4 billion won profit for the same period last year.

Their combined loss from derivatives trading narrowed to 42.6 billion won in the first half from a 103.7 billion won deficit a year earlier.

A total of 53 domestic outlets run by 37 overseas banks held 194.9 trillion won in total assets as of the end of December. Their total assets as of end-June have not been tallied yet, the FSS said. (Yonhap News)