Korea’s online-only bank K Bank posts strong Q2 net profit growth

K Bank CI

South Korea’s online-only bank K Bank posted a significant rise in net profit for the second quarter of 2024 thanks to higher lending income.

According to the bank’s second-quarter results released on Tuesday, net profit totaled 34.7 billion won ($25.3 million), more than double the 14.7 billion won recorded in the same period during the previous year. However, the latest net income fell short of the record 50.7 billion won achieved in the first quarter of 2024.

The net profit for the first half of the year totaled 85.4 billion won, marking the highest half-yearly profit since the bank‘s inception in 2017, with K-Bank’s deposits and loans totaling 21.8 trillion won and 15.6 trillion won respectively as of the end of the second quarter of 2024. The deposits rose 25.8 percent on year, with loans increasing by 23.7 percent during the period.

However, deposits fell by 9 percent over the last quarter compared to the end of the first quarter, with the bank attributing the drop to a sharp decrease in deposits from cryptocurrency exchanges. Its delinquency rate also fell for a second straight quarter to 0.9 percent.

K Bank applied for preliminary approval for a public initial offering (IPO) in June 2024 and is currently in the middle of preparations.