Savings banks' net profit tripled in the first quarter of fiscal 2015 on the back of increased interest income and decreased loan-loss reserves, the financial watchdog said Thursday.

The combined net profit of 79 savings banks operating in the country came in at 173.4 billion won ($149.9 million) in the July-September period, compared with 5.8 billion won tallied in the previous year, according to the Financial Supervisory Service. The savings banks close their books in June.

The secondary lenders have been in the black for five consecutive quarters since they turned to a net profit a year earlier for the first time in five years.

Increased interest income lent support to their strong bottom lines, as they earned 639.3 billion won in interest income, up 20 percent from 510.2 billion won over the cited period.

They set aside 140.5 billion won for bad loans during the three-month period, down 36 percent from 219.7 billion won.

The loan delinquency rate at the lenders fell to 11.2 percent as of end-September from 11.6 percent three months ago on decreased corporate debts, the FSS said.

The capital adequacy ratio, a key gauge of financial soundness, stood at 14.31 percent at the end of September, up 0.02 percentage point from end-June.

Their combined assets totaled 41.3 trillion won as of end-September, up by 1.1 trillion won from three months earlier. (Yonhap)