Rapid Growth of KakaoBank, Q3 Net Profit 40.6 Billion KRW... Non-Interest Sector Turns Profitable

Customer 13 Million, Loans 18.73 Trillion Won

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyo-jin] KakaoBank continued its rapid growth in the third quarter following the first half of the year. It also turned profitable in the non-interest sector through expanded fee income.

According to the banking sector on the 4th, KakaoBank recorded a net profit of 40.6 billion KRW in the third quarter of this year. This figure is seven times higher than the same period last year (5.8 billion KRW). The cumulative net profit for the third quarter reached 85.9 billion KRW. Although KakaoBank posted a loss of 1.7 billion KRW in the fourth quarter of last year, it has been growing with net profits of 18.5 billion KRW in the first quarter and 26.8 billion KRW in the second quarter this year.

Despite policies such as nationwide free ATM fees and exemption from early repayment penalties, KakaoBank earned a net fee income of 4.1 billion KRW in the third quarter. This is the first quarterly profit in this category. The cumulative net fee income was 370 million KRW. This was influenced by the increase in stock account opening applications, credit card agency recruitment, and expanded use of check cards.

Since March last year, KakaoBank has launched various products and services through partnerships with multiple financial companies. Through the 'Stock Account Opening Application Service' connected with Korea Investment & Securities, NH Investment & Securities, and KB Securities, 2.61 million accounts were opened by the end of September.

Credit card issuance applications through the 'Credit Card Application Service,' launched in partnership with four credit card companies in April this year, reached approximately 400,000 as of the end of September. Since September, Korea Investment & Securities' overseas stock trading service 'MiniStock' has also become available through KakaoBank.

Net interest income slightly increased to 107.9 billion KRW compared to the second quarter due to the growth in loan assets. As of the end of September, KakaoBank's loan balance stood at 18.73 trillion KRW. The loan increase during the third quarter was 1.39 trillion KRW, and total assets amounted to 25 trillion KRW. As of the end of last month, the bank had approximately 13.26 million customers.

Meanwhile, KakaoBank held a board meeting on the 27th of last month and resolved to proceed with a 750 billion KRW common stock rights offering. It plans to issue 31,916,595 new common shares at a price of 23,500 KRW per share. KakaoBank's investment valuation is 8.58 trillion KRW (before the completion of the capital increase), which is similar to the market valuation level of 8 to 9 trillion KRW.

Through this capital increase, KakaoBank will welcome TPG Capital as a new shareholder. TPG will acquire 10.64 million new shares issued by KakaoBank, securing approximately 2.68% ownership (upon completion of the capital increase). The amount is about 250 billion KRW. The payment date for TPG Capital is the 12th of this month.

A rights offering targeting existing shareholders will also be conducted. The scale is about 500 billion KRW, and new shares will be allocated according to the proportion of stock ownership. Currently, KakaoBank's major shareholders are Kakao (33.5%), Korea Investment Value Asset Management (28.6%), Kookmin Bank (9.9%), Korea Financial Group (4.9%), Netmarble (3.9%), and Yes24 (2.0%). The record date for new share allocation is the 11th, and the payment date is December 29th.

KakaoBank plans to accelerate its initial public offering (IPO) through this process. KakaoBank completed the auditor designation application in September for the IPO and plans to send out bidding proposals and select an underwriter within the year.

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