Corporate loan growth in South Korea slightly picked up in the second quarter from three months earlier, central bank data showed Wednesday, mainly due to a modest gain in loans for the service sector.

The outstanding loans extended to local companies came to 1,478.5 trillion won ($1.27 trillion) as of end-June, up 42.7 trillion won from three months earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).

By industrial sector, loans to manufacturing firms rose 4.9 trillion won on-quarter to 404.8 trillion won as of the end of June.

Total loans in the service sector expanded 33.7 trillion won to 945.5 trillion won, compared with a growth of 31.1 trillion won in the first quarter.

Lending to property businesses increased 12.1 trillion won to reach a record 307.6 trillion won in the April-June period.

Loans to wholesale and retail companies reached 213.5 trillion won as of the end of June, up 8 trillion won from a quarter earlier. (Yonhap)