The stellar bottom line was attributed mainly to a jump in interest income. Their total interest income stood at slightly over

1 trillion won during the nine-month period, up 14 percent from a year ago.

They also racked up a profit of 29.1 billion won from their investment in stocks and bonds, a sharp turnaround from a 60.4 billion-won loss a year earlier.

Mutual financing firms in South Korea refer to cooperatives set up to offer limited loans and deposit services aimed to support those working in specified industries, such as farming and fisheries.

Despite the sharp increase in earnings, the financing companies saw their asset quality worsen over the cited period.

Their loan delinquency ratio came in at 1.56 percent as of the end of September, up 0.22 percentage point from a year earlier.

"The delinquency ratio has been on a steady rise this year, sapping their asset soundness," an FSS official said. "The companies need to manage loan risks better due to a rapid rise in lending to self-employed people and corporations."

As of end-September, the mutual financing firms had 498.3 trillion won in assets, up 5.5 percent from the end of last year.

Their lending rose some 6 percent to 340.2 trillion won over the cited period, with deposits gaining 5 percent to 420.8 trillion won.

Mutual finance companies in the country number 2,239, down 17 from end-December. (Yonhap)