KakaoBank Achieves Record High Performance Last Year with Net Profit of 263.1 Billion KRW

[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] KakaoBank announced on the 8th that its sales last year reached 1,605.8 billion KRW, and operating profit was 353.2 billion KRW.

This represents a 50.8% and 37.5% increase compared to the previous year, marking the highest performance ever.

Last year's net profit also recorded an all-time high of 263.1 billion KRW, a 28.9% increase from the previous year.

In the fourth quarter, sales were 484.7 billion KRW, up 56.8% year-on-year, operating profit was 85.8 billion KRW, and net profit was 60.6 billion KRW, increasing by 65% and 67.4% respectively compared to the previous year.

As of the end of last year, the net interest margin (NIM) was 2.48%, and the delinquency rate was 0.49%.

The deposit balance increased from 30 trillion KRW at the end of 2021 to 33.1 trillion KRW at the end of last year, with low-cost deposits accounting for 61.3%, according to the bank.

The loan balance, which was around 25.9 trillion KRW in 2021, reached 27.9 trillion KRW at the end of last year. Loans to low- and medium-credit borrowers, jeonse and monthly rent deposit loans, and mortgage loans drove the growth.

In the case of mortgage loans (Judaemdae), the balance reached 1 trillion KRW within 10 months of launch, and the amount handled in the fourth quarter doubled compared to the previous quarter to 790 billion KRW.

Growth continued in the fee and platform sectors as well. The scale of check card payments increased by 18% year-on-year to 21 trillion KRW.

Securities company stock accounts reached a cumulative total of 6.14 million, linked loan cumulative handling amount reached 5.7 trillion KRW, and 570,000 affiliated credit cards were issued.

KakaoBank's customer base reached 20.42 million at the end of last year, an increase of 2.43 million from 17.99 million at the end of 2021. KakaoBank stated this is about 70% of the economically active population.

The monthly active users (MAU) reached an all-time high of 16.44 million.

The customer age distribution was 10s (8%), 20s (24%), 30s (25%), 40s (23%), and 50s and above (20%).

KakaoBank said, "Despite the uncertain and highly volatile external environment last year, we laid the foundation for continuous and stable diversification of revenue sources," adding, "This year, we will grow into an essential financial life app through the expansion of various services and platform business."

KakaoBank plans to expand mortgage loan targets from apartments to multi-family housing and launch new products including pre-sale balance loans. It also intends to launch fund sales services in line with future license acquisition schedules.