KakaoBank Corp. posted a 23% jump in first-quarter profit as South Korea’s largest internet-only bank continued to add customers and boost lending.
Operating profit rose to 183 billion won ($136 million) in the January-March period, up from 148.4 billion won a year earlier, according to the bank’s earnings release. Net income increased 23.6% to 137.4 billion won.
The digital lender added 570,000 users this year, bringing its total customer base to 25.45 million. Deposit balances grew 14% year-on-year to 60.4 trillion won, while loan balances expanded 7% to 44.3 trillion won, driven by growth in small business and mortgage lending.
KakaoBank has leveraged its digital-only model to achieve a cost-to-income ratio of 33.8%, significantly improved from 45.1% in 2021. This operational efficiency helped the lender’s return on equity reach 8.54%.
The bank’s loan comparison platform saw execution values surge 101% year-on-year, while its advertising revenue grew 6% from the previous quarter.
Looking ahead, KakaoBank plans to expand into new business areas, including launching a cryptocurrency balance checking service this year and adding new investment products such as repurchase agreements that debuted in March.
Asset quality remained stable with the delinquency rate at 0.51%, despite the expanded loan portfolio.
