K-Bank
(Image courtesy of K-Bank)
SEOUL, May 20 (Korea Bizwire) — Internet-only K-Bank is again seeking to go public after previously delaying or nixing its initial public offering (IPO) plans on three occasions, industry sources said Tuesday.
In October, the company said it would postpone its IPO till early this year, citing low demand from investors. In January, the bank decided to drop its IPO plan.
K-Bank has sent a request for proposal to major brokerages for its IPO, and is expected to pick a lead manager next week, according to the sources.
The bank reported earlier that its first-quarter net profit sank nearly 70 percent from a year earlier on a decrease in interest income.
Net income came to 16 billion won (US$11.4 million) in the January-March period, compared with a net profit of 50.7 billion won a year earlier, the bank said.
As of end-March, its customers had totaled 13.63 million, up 32 percent from a year ago, and its deposits and outstanding loans stood at 27.8 trillion won and 16.9 trillion won, respectively, up 15.9 percent and 14.8 percent from a year ago.
(Yonhap)
