A South Korean unit of U.S.-based Citi Bank said Tuesday it has reduced nearly 10 percent of its branches here through November, due mainly to its falling profits in the local financial market.

Citi Bank Korea said the number of branches in South Korea came to 196 as of this month, compared to 218 tallied at end-December last year.

Citi Bank Korea’s net profit came to 27.9 billion won ($26.3 million) in the third quarter of fiscal 2013, down 53.3 percent from a year earlier.

South Korea is the bank’s fourth-largest market in terms of revenue, next to the United States, Mexico and Britain, a Credit Suisse report showed.

On the whole, Western financial companies have been reducing their presence in South Korea since 2008, apparently as the global economic slump dealt a harsh financial blow to their headquarters.

Fifteen Western financial firms operating here have either withdrawn or reduced their businesses here since 2008 when the global financial crisis hit the world economy through November, according to the data by the Financial Services Commission. (Yonhap News)