KakaoBank, Kakao Pay post record results in Q1

KakaoBank CI

South Korea’s internet-only lender KakaoBank Corp. said on Wednesday that its net profit for the first quarter of this year reached 187.3 billion won ($129.58 million), up 36.3 percent from a year earlier.

This marks the highest quarterly profit in the company’s history.

KakaoBank said the record-breaking performance was driven by growth in both interest and non-interest income.

Interest income rose 2.7 percent year on year to 516.5 billion won, while non-interest income increased 7.5 percent to 302.9 billion won.

It was the first time the bank’s quarterly non-interest income exceeded 300 billion won. The share of non-interest income in total operating revenue also climbed to 37 percent.

KakaoBank added that it plans to raise its shareholder return ratio from 45 percent last year to 50 percent this year.

Meanwhile, Kakao Pay also posted record quarterly sales of 300.3 billion won, up 42 percent from a year earlier.

Revenue from financial services such as securities and insurance surpassed revenue from payment services for the first time ever.

While payment service revenue increased 13.3 percent year on year, financial service revenue, including investment and insurance businesses, surged 82 percent, overtaking the payment segment.