Online lender K-Bank's net profit hits record high in Q3

SEOUL, Nov. 7 (Yonhap) -- South Korean online lender K-Bank said Monday its net profit hit a record high in the third quarter on higher operational efficiency and stayed in the black for five straight quarters.

Net profit stood at 25.6 billion won (US$18.2 million) in the July-September period, up 52.4 percent from a year earlier, K-Bank said in a statement.

In the first three quarters combined, the lender logged 71.4 billion won in net profit, swelling more than eightfold from 8.4 billion won during the same period last year.

The bank said the net interest margin (NIM), a key barometer of profitability, stood at 2.44 percent in the third quarter, up from 1.42 percent a year ago.

The number of K-Bank's customers amounted to 8.01 million as of the end of September, up from 7.83 million three months earlier.

Customer deposits stood at 13.49 trillion won in the third quarter, up from 12.18 trillion won a year ago. Lending increased from 8.73 trillion won to 9.78 trillion won.

K-Bank, South Korea's first internet-only bank that started operations in 2017, is controlled by a consortium of telecom giant KT Corp., Woori Bank and other companies.

jwc@yna.co.kr
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