Kakao Bank Posts Record High First Half Net Profit of 183.8 Billion KRW

Yoon Ho-young, CEO of Kakao Bank

KakaoBank announced on the 2nd that it recorded a net profit of 183.8 billion KRW in the first half of the year, marking the highest half-year performance in its history.

KakaoBank's operating profit for the first half was 248.2 billion KRW, an increase of about 52% compared to the previous year. A KakaoBank official stated, "Despite a decrease in net interest margin (NIM) and conservative provisioning in the first half, we demonstrated growth potential through customer inflow based on inclusive finance and the advancement of the credit scoring system (CSS)."

Operating profit for the second quarter was 111.8 billion KRW, and net profit was 82.0 billion KRW, up 50.3% and 43.9% respectively compared to the previous year.

Loan balances as of the second quarter reached 33.9 trillion KRW, a 16% increase from the first quarter (29.3 trillion KRW). Balances of all loan products, including credit loans, jeonse and monthly rent loans, mortgage loans, and loans for individual business owners, increased.

In particular, the mortgage loan balance in the second quarter was 5.5 trillion KRW, up about 3 trillion KRW from the previous quarter. The new loan amount in the second quarter was approximately 3.5 trillion KRW, of which about 60% was for refinancing purposes. It is analyzed that customers moved to KakaoBank seeking its low interest rates.

According to the Bankers Association disclosure, the average interest rate for installment repayment mortgage loans handled by KakaoBank in June was 4.02%, the lowest among 16 banks. During the same period, the average interest rate for jeonse deposit loans was 3.61%, also the lowest in the banking sector.

KakaoBank's balance of mid-to-low credit loans in the second quarter was 3.9184 trillion KRW, an increase of about 32.5% compared to 2.9583 trillion KRW in the previous year. The proportion of mid-to-low credit loans was 27.7% as of the second quarter, up 2 percentage points from 25.7% in the first quarter. Especially, the volume of credit loans supplied to mid-to-low credit borrowers from January to April this year was the largest ever, recording 1.09 trillion KRW, a 25.5% increase compared to the same period last year.

Although total loans increased, the delinquency rate decreased. The delinquency rate fell by 0.06 percentage points from 0.58% in the first quarter to 0.52% in the second quarter.

Deposit balances reached 43.6 trillion KRW, an 8% increase from 40.2 trillion KRW in the previous quarter. From July 2020 to June this year, the average annual growth rate of demand deposit account balances per person was 14%, and the number of customers registering KakaoBank as their payroll account increased by 32% annually. According to the Korea Financial Telecommunications & Clearings Institute, the market share of interbank transfers was 11%.

KakaoBank's average monthly active users (MAU) in the second quarter was 17.35 million, an increase of about 1 million from 16.35 million in the first quarter. This is the first time MAU has exceeded 17 million. The number of customers as of the second quarter was 21.74 million. Notably, middle-aged and older customers aged 40 and above actively joined.

A KakaoBank official said, "Through inclusive finance such as expanding mid-to-low credit loan supply and offering competitive interest rates, we were able to achieve both customer satisfaction and growth. In the second half of the year, we will continue innovative growth by enhancing customer benefits through balanced loan growth and monetization of platform business."

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