Seoul, Aug. 21 -- Korean banks' combined net profit jumped more than 18 per cent from a year earlier in the first half of the year on a sharp rise in non-interest income that more than offset a slight drop in interest income, data showed Thursday.

The combined net profit of 20 banks reached 14.9 trillion won (USD 10.66 billion) in the January-June period, marking an increase of 2.3 trillion won, or 18.4 per cent, from 12.6 trillion won a year earlier, figures from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) showed.

Interest income fell marginally by 0.1 trillion won, or 0.4 per cent, to 29.7 trillion won over the same period.

Yonhap News Agency quoted the FSS as saying that non-interest income came to 5.2 trillion won, up 3.4 trillion won,...