Citibank Korea headquarters in Seoul / Courtesy of Citibank Korea

Citibank Korea registered a 25-percent increase in net income in the July-to-September period from the previous year, while that of Standard Chartered (SC) Korea fell nearly 40 percent, data showed Friday.

Citi's strong earnings were driven by growth in corporate banking, which was significant enough to offset a decline in retail banking interest income.

SC Korea's poor figures were ascribed to declining interest and noninterest incomes, compounded further by one-off expenses linked to compensation for the troubled Hong Kong exchange-traded securities.

Citibank Korea said its net income for the third quarter came to 92.7 billion won ($66.2 million), up 24.8 percent from a year ago. Total revenue over the same period stood at 305.2 billion, up 9.8 percent.

Citi's interest income over the same period came to 184 billion won, down 11 percent, dented by its retail banking services phaseout.

Its outstanding retail banking loan balance, as of the end of September, stood at 9.4 trillion won, a decrease of 25.1 percent from the previous year.

However, its noninterest income in corporate banking more than outstripped the decline in retail banking.

Noninterest income in the July-to-September period stood at 121.2 billion won, up 69.8 percent from a year ago.

Key growth drivers were sales and the performance of foreign exchange, derivatives and securities.

Operating expenses over the same period were 143.8 billion won, down 7.1 percent, led by declining labor costs. Loan loss provisions were up 53.2 percent to 40.9 billion.

SC's net income for the third quarter came to 63.7 billion, down 38.8 percent from a year ago. Operating profit fell 11.6 percent.

Its interest income over the same period dipped 4.6 percent to 299.8 billion amid asset reduction. Noninterest income stood at 42.5 billion, plunging from 105.4 billion last year.

Plummeting profits in foreign exchange and derivative products rose faster than its increase in sales fees from wealth management.

Net income in the first nine months of this year came to 267.7 billion won, down 14.5 percent from a year ago. This was due to 102.7 billion won paid to buyers of the Hong Kong-tied securities.

Its operating profit rose 13.8 percent to 453.4 billion won.