Kakao Bank reports record earnings in H1 on rise in interest, non-interest income

Kakao Bank, the leading online lender, reported record earnings for the first half of the year due to a surge in both interest and non-interest income. The net profit for the January-June period increased by 24.4% from the previous year to reach a record high of 328 billion won (US$229 million) in a regulatory filing. While the operating profit saw a slight decline of 0.45% compared to the same period last year, sitting at 351 billion won.

Revenue for the half-year period rose by 5.5% to 1.64 trillion won. For the second quarter alone, Kakao Bank's net profit hit 141 billion won, marking an 11.5% increase from the previous year. The interest income grew by 5.9% on-year to 1.06 trillion won, and the non-interest income also climbed by 4.8% to 589 billion won over the same period.

As of the end of June, the bank's customer count stood at 27.63 million, and its monthly active users reached 20.32 million.