Cumulative 9-month net profit tops 100 billion won for 3rd straight year

Corporate loan balance up 89% from a year earlier

[K bank]
[K bank]

K bank posted a net profit of 42.1 billion won ($31.5 million) in the third quarter of this year, more than doubling its earnings from the same period a year ago. Total loans surpassed 20 trillion won for the first time, driven by lending to sole proprietors, while both interest and non-interest income increased.

The internet-only lender announced Friday that its net profit for the period reached 42.1 billion won in the third quarter, a 119 percent increase from a year earlier. Cumulative net profit for the first nine months of the year came to 102.1 billion won, marking the third consecutive year the bank has exceeded 100 billion won over that period.

The number of customers stood at 16.88 million at the end of September, up about 1.91 million from a year earlier. The deposit balance was 29.39 trillion won, while the loan balance reached 20.58 trillion won.

Corporate lending drove the loan growth. The corporate loan balance rose 89 percent from a year earlier, accounting for 17.7 percent of total loans. More than half of the loan balance added this year came from corporate lending, reflecting the bank's efforts to diversify its loan portfolio away from its previous focus on household lending.

K bank said it accounted for 33.1 percent of the net increase in sole-proprietor loans across the entire domestic banking sector through the third quarter. Since launching its guaranteed loan product in 2022, cumulative sole-proprietor loan supply has exceeded 5 trillion won, with 2.1 trillion won extended in the January-to-September period alone. The delinquency rate on sole-proprietor loans stood at 0.55 percent, even as the bank expanded its offerings centered on real estate-backed and guaranteed loans.

The deposit balance fell about 3 percent from a year earlier but rose about 10 percent quarter-on-quarter. K bank said it maintained its deposit base through sales of its Code K time deposit and the season-based savings product, even amid a shift of funds into the stock market and a decline in virtual asset deposits.

Loan interest income in the third quarter was 130.1 billion won, up about 21 percent from a year earlier. The cumulative net interest margin rose to 1.60 percent from 1.38 percent a year earlier, a gain of 0.22 percentage points. Non-interest income grew 28.3 percent to 26.9 billion won, boosted by gains on loan receivable sales and higher securities-related income.

Asset quality indicators deteriorated slightly. The delinquency rate edged up to 0.62 percent from 0.60 percent the previous quarter, and the substandard-and-below loan ratio rose to 0.60 percent from 0.59 percent. The credit cost ratio for the third quarter was 1.12 percent. The BIS capital adequacy ratio stood at 19.59 percent at the end of September.

K bank plans to expand its sole-proprietor financial services and external platform partnerships. This month, the bank broadened the collateral scope of its business real estate mortgage loan to include apartment complexes and commercial properties, and also introduced a facility financing loan. The bank also plans to launch a Naver Pay business owner loan and a Musinsa Money K bank account and debit card before the end of the year.

In the digital asset space, K bank extended its real-name verification account partnership with Upbit by one year. The bank said it will also prepare services for corporate customers in stages, in line with the government's schedule for institutionalizing corporate digital asset trading.

"We achieved strong growth on the back of steady momentum in sole-proprietor lending, even amid a highly volatile external environment," a K bank official said. "We will continue to broaden our customer base and secure new growth engines through expansion in the corporate finance market and collaboration with external platforms."


forest@heraldcorp.com