On May 15, K Bank announced that it recorded a net profit of 16.1 billion KRW in the first quarter of this year. This figure represents a decrease of approximately 68% compared to the same period last year.
In terms of customer numbers, 900,000 new customers joined in the first quarter, bringing the total to 13.63 million. This marks a 32% increase compared to the same period last year.
Total deposits stood at 27.8 trillion KRW, while total loans amounted to 16.9 trillion KRW, representing year-on-year growth rates of 15.9% and 14.8%, respectively. The increase in deposits was driven by the inflow of idle funds into the Parking Account Plus Box, as deposit interest rates in the banking sector fell and the asset market contracted. The balance in the Plus Box increased by approximately 2.2 trillion KRW in the first quarter alone. The short-term installment savings product "Gunggeumhan Jeogeum," which offers a maximum annual interest rate of 7.2% for daily deposits over a month, saw about 400,000 new accounts opened between its launch in November last year and March this year.
The growth in total loans was supported by the stable expansion of apartment mortgage loans and jeonse loans, as well as a strengthened focus on the personal business loan market. The personal business real estate secured loan product "Sajangnim Budongsan Dambo Daechul" saw rapid growth in originations following the launch of the subordinated refinancing loan in the first quarter, with the balance surpassing 200 billion KRW as of the end of April this year.
K Bank's net interest income for the first quarter was 108.5 billion KRW, down 20% from 135.7 billion KRW in the same period last year. The increase in deposit balances, while household loans remained restricted, led to higher interest expenses, which was the main reason for the decline. Non-interest income was 19.7 billion KRW, up 25.5% from 15.7 billion KRW in the same period last year.
In the first quarter, K Bank focused on improving its asset quality indicators through active bond sales. As a result, the delinquency rate at the end of the first quarter was 0.66%, a significant decrease from 0.95% in the same period last year, and the lowest figure in three years since the second quarter of 2022. The ratio of substandard and below loans also improved significantly to 0.61%, compared to 0.87% in the same period last year. Due to these efforts, both the delinquency rate and the ratio of substandard and below loans at the end of the first quarter were lower than those of major regional banks.
Alongside these efforts, K Bank continued to actively accumulate loan loss provisions, resulting in the NPL coverage ratio (the ratio of loan loss provisions to non-performing loans) improving significantly from 251.7% at the end of last year to 303.3% at the end of the first quarter, reaching the highest level in the banking sector. K Bank's net interest margin (NIM) for the first quarter was 1.41%. The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) total capital adequacy ratio was 14.39%.
A K Bank official stated, "Our active efforts to improve asset quality in the first quarter led to significant improvements in key asset quality indicators. Based on these results, we will continue to pursue growth while also making aggressive investments in technologies such as AI and further promoting win-win finance."
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