KakaoBank Posts Record-High Q1 Performance with Rapid Growth in Deposits and Loans

Net Income Reaches 101.9 Billion KRW
Up 52.5% Year-on-Year

Yoon Ho-young, CEO of Kakao Bank

Kakao Bank recorded its highest performance in the first quarter.

On the 3rd, Kakao Bank announced that its net profit for the first quarter increased by 52.5% year-on-year to 101.9 billion KRW. Revenue was 560.5 billion KRW, and operating profit was 136.4 billion KRW. These figures represent growth of 65.6% and 54.3% respectively compared to the previous year, marking the highest quarterly performance.

Kakao Bank's deposit balance reached 40.2 trillion KRW in the first quarter, surpassing 40 trillion KRW for the first time since its launch. The loan balance was recorded at 29.3 trillion KRW. The net interest margin (NIM) for the first quarter was 2.62%, and the delinquency rate was 0.58%.

Kakao Bank showed balanced loan growth, with increases in unsecured loans and mortgage loans based on low interest rates and convenience. In particular, the growth of Kakao Bank's mortgage loans was strong.

The mortgage loan balance of Kakao Bank reached 2.4 trillion KRW within one year of its launch. The new loan amount in the first quarter was 1.437 trillion KRW, an increase of 643 billion KRW compared to the previous quarter (794 billion KRW). The low mortgage loan interest rates drove this growth. As of March, the average interest rate for installment-type mortgage loans handled by Kakao Bank was 4.04%, the lowest among 16 banks. Because of this, the balance of mortgage loans for refinancing purposes, which was 5 billion KRW in the first quarter of last year, surged to 866 billion KRW in the first quarter of this year.

Kakao Bank has also expanded the range of its mortgage loan products. Since last month, it has extended coverage to multi-family and row houses, and plans to continue its growth by handling the Bogeumjari Loan in the fourth quarter of this year and pre-sale balance payments in 2024.

In the first quarter of this year, Kakao Bank actively supplied loans to low- and mid-credit borrowers and those with insufficient financial history based on alternative credit evaluation models such as the Kakao Bank Score. The balance of unsecured loans for low- and mid-credit borrowers reached approximately 3.5 trillion KRW, with the supply scale increasing by 20% compared to the previous year.

As of the end of March, Kakao Bank's customer base reached 21.18 million, a 14% increase compared to last year. A Kakao Bank official said, "We were able to increase customer satisfaction by providing high convenience and reinterpreting financial products, which also led to good performance."

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