This photo, provided by K-Bank on April 1, 2021, shows its office in central Seoul.
SEOUL, March 2 (Korea Bizwire) — K-Bank, a South Korean internet-only bank, reported Thursday that its net income in 2022 nearly quadrupled to a record high thanks to a spike in interest income.
K-Bank’s net income came to 83.6 billion won (US$64 million) last year, up from a net profit of 22.5 billion won reported a year earlier, the company said in a press release.
Launched in 2017, K-Bank reported its first net profit in 2021 and stayed in the black for the second straight year.
The robust performance came as the bank drew more customers and deposits that could lead to an income from lending.
At the end of December, the number of its customers stood at some 8.49 million, up 1.32 million from a year earlier.
The amount of deposits held by the bank also jumped 29.2 percent over the same period to 14.63 trillion won.
The rise is attributed to high interest rates driven by the central bank’s aggressive monetary tightening that attracted more customers and led to a spike in income from lending.
Its outstanding loans came to 10.77 trillion won as of end-December, up 51.9 percent from a year earlier.
K-Bank’s net interest income surged 94.9 percent on-year to 385.2 billion won.
Its net interest margin, a gauge of profitability, also rose from 1.56 percent to 2.51 percent over the cited period, the company said.
(Yonhap)
