KakaoBank's net profit up 159 percent in the second quarter

KakaoBank's net profit in the second quarter rose 158.7 percent on year to 69.3 billion won ($59 million), the company said Tuesday.

Operating revenue for the quarter was at 253.6 billion won, up 29.4 percent on year.

It was the first earnings release after its listing on the Korea Exchange.

The bank attributed its steep growth to an increasing number of its customers. According to the bank, the number of monthly active users of its mobile banking app increased from 13.1 million at the end of last year to 14 million as of the end of June.

The company added that it was able to attract a diverse range of customers.

As of the end of June this year, customers in their 20s and 30s were 54 percent of the bank's total customer base. The bank said in a statement that among newly added customers this year those in their 40s and 50s were 48 percent of the total. Those aged 60 or older were 10 percent of the customers that registered with the bank this year.

While the company's business can be divided mainly into platform business and banking business, the bank's platform business -- which links customers with third-party lenders or brokerages -- grew as people opened new brokerage accounts and borrowed money from the second-tier financial institutions.

According to the bank, the accumulated number of brokerage accounts opened through the bank reached 4.29 million accounts as of the end of the second quarter this year. Compared to the end of 2020, that number is up 43 percent.

Loans referred through KakaoBank's platform totaled 3.1 trillion won as of the end of June this year. The size of the total accumulated loans increased by 51 percent compared to the end of 2020.

Deposits in the second quarter increased by 19 percent on year to 26.6 trillion won, with low-cost funding accounting for 56 percent of total deposits.
The bank's loan balance grew 33 percent on year to 23.1 trillion won.

Net interest margin was 1.89 percent, up 0.29 percentage points on year and 0.02 percentage points from the previous quarter.

The bank is betting its mortgages, to be introduced at the end of this year at earliest, will be its new growth engine.

"We are expecting the release to be within this year," said KakaoBank CEO Yun Ho-young in a conference call with analysts Tuesday. "It would be at the beginning of next year at latest."

KakaoBank shares closed at 87,400 won on Tuesday, a 14.1 percent jump.

The bank's net profit for the first half of the year grew by 156.2 percent to 115.9 billion won.

BY KIM JEE-HEE [kim.jeehee@joongang.co.kr]