KakaoBank's First Half Net Profit Jumps 370% "Preparing for IPO Practical Work from Second Half"

Monthly App Users Reach 11 Million, Ranked No.1 Among All Banks

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyojin] KakaoBank's rapid growth continues. This is the result of a steep increase in users, which has broadened the base of operations and improved the profit and loss structure. Based on this, KakaoBank plans to accelerate preparations for its initial public offering (IPO).

KakaoBank announced on the 5th that it recorded a net profit of approximately 26.8 billion KRW in the second quarter of this year. The cumulative net profit for the first half of the year reached 45.3 billion KRW. Compared to the first half of last year (9.6 billion KRW), this represents a remarkable 372% increase. As of the end of June, the asset size was 24.4 trillion KRW, growing by 1 trillion KRW compared to the previous quarter.

The loan balance of key products such as credit loans and jeonse deposit loans rose from 14.88 trillion KRW to 17.68 trillion KRW during the first half of the year. The transfer amount, which was 55 trillion KRW in the first half of last year, nearly doubled to 100 trillion KRW in the first half of this year.

As of the end of June, the cumulative number of accounts opened for the '26-week savings' product exceeded 5.6 million, and the number of subscribers to the 'My Credit Information' service surpassed 5.1 million. The number of users of the 'Group Account' reached 6.6 million.

The steep increase in users is behind this trend. As of the end of June, the monthly active users (MAU) of the KakaoBank mobile application (combined Android and iOS, according to KoreanClick) was approximately 11 million, ranking first among all domestic banks.

The number of users accessing KakaoBank at least once a month increased from 10.62 million in December last year to 11.73 million in June. The number of account-opening customers grew from 11.34 million at the end of last year to 12.75 million at the end of last month.

With a particularly high usage rate of 47% among people in their 20s and 30s, KakaoBank explained that the spread of non-face-to-face trends due to COVID-19 and other factors has also expanded the influx of relatively older users, with those aged 50 and above accounting for 17% of new account-opening customers in May.

Deposits and loans increased by 86 billion KRW and 333 billion KRW respectively from the previous month, reaching 22.4 trillion KRW and 17.7 trillion KRW. KakaoBank analyzed that the expansion of interest income due to the increase in users and loans drove the strong performance.

Stock Accounts and Credit Card Services Show Strong Performance

In the non-interest sector, the deficit margin improved due to the impact of stock account opening applications and the launch of credit card recruitment agency services. KakaoBank's stock account opening applications nearly doubled from 1.14 million at the end of last year to 2.18 million at the end of June. KakaoBank currently operates stock account opening businesses with Korea Investment & Securities, NH Investment & Securities, and KB Securities, and plans to add more partners in the future.

The number of applications for co-branded credit cards launched through partnerships with four card companies?KB Kookmin Card, Samsung Card, Shinhan Card, and Citi Card?reached 260,000 as of the end of July. Among fee expenses, ATM (Automated Teller Machine) costs, which account for the largest share, amounted to 26 billion KRW in the first half of the year.

The Basel III-based capital adequacy ratio (BIS) was 14.03% at the end of June. The delinquency rate remained low at 0.22%. The nominal net interest margin (NIM) for the first half of the year was 1.60%.

A KakaoBank official said, "To sustain growth and capital expansion, we plan to start practical preparations for the IPO in the second half of the year," adding, "We will further enhance consumer convenience through financial services completed on mobile."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.