South Korea-based internet-only bank Kakao Bank said on August 5 that its first-half net profit rose 24.4% year on year to 328 billion won (US$230 million), a first-half record.

Operating revenue increased 5.5% to 1.6 trillion won (US$1.15 billion) as loan growth, fund management profits, and fee and platform income rose.

Loan interest income climbed 5.9% to 1.1 trillion won (US$741 million), while non-interest income rose 4.8% to 589.5 billion won (US$413 million).

Fee and platform revenue increased 10.5% to 169.6 billion won (US$119 million). The bank’s second-quarter net interest margin was 2.13%, up from 1.92% a year earlier.

Loans outstanding reached 48.2 trillion won (US$33.8 billion) at the end of June, up 518 billion won (US$363 million) from the previous quarter.

Loans to individual business owners stood at 3.7 trillion won (US$2.58 billion), while new loans to mid- and low-credit borrowers totalled about 1 trillion won (US$700 million) in the first half.

Deposits fell to 67.1 trillion won (US$47 billion) from 69.4 trillion won (US$48.5 billion) in the first quarter, though the bank said they returned to net growth in the second half, with more than 1 trillion won (US$700 million) flowing in during July alone.

The delinquency rate was 0.51%. Kakao Bank also reported 27.63 million customers and 20.32 million monthly active users.

🔗 Source: Chosun Daily