(image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, Feb. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean internet-only kakaobank said Wednesday that its net profit hit an all-time high last year thanks to increased interest income.
Its net profit came to 263.1 billion won (US$208.5 million) in 2022, up 28.9 percent from the previous year, the lender said in a regulatory filing.
Its revenue jumped 50.8 percent on-year to 1.61 trillion won, and operational profit grew 37.5 percent to 353.2 billion won.
kakaobank attributed the stellar performance to increased interest margins amid the central banks’ rate hikes.
Last month, the Bank of Korea raised the benchmark seven-day repo rate from 3.25 percent to 3.5 percent, the highest level since late 2008, to tame inflation.
As of end-December 2022, outstanding deposits at kakaobank stood at 33.1 trillion won, up from 30 trillion won a year ago.
Its outstanding lending stood at 27.9 trillion won, up from 25.9 trillion won on-year, led by an increase in home-back loans.
At the end of last year, kakaobank had 20 million customers, up 2.43 million from a year ago.
kakaobank, the internet-only bank under mobile platform service provider Kakao Corp., has posted fast growth with a focus on household banking since its launch of banking operations in 2017.
The bank was listed on the main bourse KOSPI in August 2021.
(Yonhap)
