Loan overdue rate among S.Korean firms fall on eased shipbuilding, shipping restructuring

Ratio of overdue loans among South Korean big corporations declined in November on eased restructuring in troubled shipbuilders and shipping companies, financial watchdog data showed Monday.

The percentage of loans overdue more than a month offered by banks to large businesses stood at 1.58 percent of the total as of end-November, down 0.99 percentage points from a month earlier, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).

It was the first fall below 2 percent in six months as a court's approval for STX Offshore and Shipbuilding's self-reorganization plan led to the reduced delinquent loans.

The delinquency ratio of large businesses hovered above 2 percent between June and October last year after the shipbuilder and Hanjin Shipping, the country's biggest shipping line, filed for court receiverships.

Meanwhile, the delinquency rate for loans to small companies went up 0.02 percentage points over the month to 0.85 percent in November.

The rate for household loans by banks came in at 0.30 percent as of end-November, down 0.01 percentage point from the previous month.

The overdue loan ratio for home-backed loans was down 0.02 percentage points at 0.21 percent, but the figure for credit loans to households rose 0.04 percentage points to 0.54 percent. Endit