Earnings of South Korea's credit finance firms edged down 3 percent last year from a year earlier on a drop in commission and interest income amid a low rate trend, the financial watchdog said Thursday.

The combined net income of 65 credit finance companies reached 1.05 trillion won ($957.3 million) in 2014, compared with 1.08 trillion won in the previous year, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.

The companies include capital financing firms and leasing companies, but exclude credit card firms, the FSS said.

The slight decline came as the companies saw their commission income fall 3.4 percent on-year to 1.1 trillion won, while their interest income slipped 1.9 percent to 4.2 trillion won.

Their combined loan delinquency ratio stood at 2.82 percent as of end-2014, down 0.43 percentage point from the previous year, as overdue corporate and household loans declined, the FSS said.

Credit financing companies' assets totaled 93.3 trillion won at the end of 2014, up 6.5 percent on-year, according to the watchdog. (Yonhap)