Kabang/Tobang’s Highest Performance in First Half of Year
Kabang’s Reversal Growth With One-Time Profit Loss
사진 확대
The performance of the three Internet banks (Inbang) (Kakao, K, and Toss Bank) in the first half of this year was mixed. With Kakao Bank solidifying its lead, Toss Bank chased K-Bank under its chin.
According to the financial sector on the 1st, in the first half of this year, Kakao Bank recorded a 24.4% increase year-on-year to 328 billion won, and Toss Bank recorded a 46% increase in net profit to 58.9 billion won, breaking its record half-year-old record. On the other hand, K-Bank’s net profit fell 28.6% to 60.1 billion won. The net profit gap between K-Bank and Toss Bank, which was 43.8 billion won in the first half of last year, has narrowed to 1.2 billion won this year.
Kakao Bank continued its dominance with its customer base and platform business. At the end of the second quarter, the number of customers increased by 1.77 million year-on-year to 27.63 million, and interest profits in the first half of the year increased by about 21% to KRW 775.7 billion. Revenue from commissions and platforms also increased 10.5% to 169.6 billion won. The performance was driven by strengthening platform businesses such as loan comparison, payment settlement, and investment. The fact that the amount of debit card payments reached 6.3 trillion won in the second quarter, the highest on a quarterly basis, also helped expand commission profits.
For Toss Bank, a reduction in non-interest losses led to improved earnings. Non-interest income in the first half of the year was a deficit of 3.5 billion won, significantly reducing the loss from a deficit of 27 billion won a year earlier. The strengthening of non-interest businesses such as asset management (WM) and debit cards had an impact. It is explained that the fee base has improved as the cumulative linked sales of the “Roll of Money” service increased to 29 trillion won and the amount of debit card transactions increased 27% in a year. Thanks to this, the number of customers also jumped 21% year-on-year to 15.66 million.
Profitability indicators also stood out. Toss Bank’s net interest margin (NIM) in the first half of the year was 2.57%, exceeding Kakao Bank and K-Bank. However, the credit balance grew only 3.3% year-on-year to 15.63 trillion won, and the received balance decreased 9.9% to 27.757 trillion won. Toss Bank is expected to increase its revenue based on the start of fund sales and the launch of mortgage loans in the second half of the year.
K-Bank’s net profit fell back as non-interest income plunged despite the expansion of interest income. Interest profits rose about 20% to 253 billion won in the first half, but non-interest profits fell 68.2% to 23.3 billion won as profits from the sale of loan bonds, which were reflected as a one-time event last year, decreased. Profits from the sale of loan bonds decreased by 39.7 billion won from 66.9 billion won in the first half of last year to 27.2 billion won this year.
However, the growth of the main business continued. K-Bank’s credit balance was 19.8 trillion won, up 13.8% from the same period last year. In particular, the balance of private business loans more than doubled from 1.6 trillion won to 3.3 trillion won. The number of customers also increased 16% in a year to 16.45 million, and the ratio of customers to population by age (invasion rate) reached 32% for the first time, reaching the 30% range, expanding the customer base to all age groups. K-Bank plans to strengthen its growth engine by focusing on expanding private businesses and strengthening business capabilities related to digital assets in the second half of the year.