KOSPIFinance279570

Kbank

₩5,400 0.00%2026-10-02 close

Market Cap

₩2.2T

Turnover

₩1.9B

Volume

350K

Shares out.

410M

PER

25.9×

PBR

0.9×

EPS

₩216

Dividend Yield

0.00%

PER, EPS, PBR and BPS are calculated in-house from the last 4 quarters (2025Q3–2026Q2) · Dividend yield is based on ₩0 per share · Prices as of the 2026-10-02 close

Report overview

Loans Expand, Profits Retreat

Assets are growing fast on the back of small-business lending, but profit has stepped back as non-interest income shrank and credit costs rose, with two verifiable events - the October Upbit account partnership expiry and the lock-up releases - now on the calendar.

1
Operating profit slipped from KRW 32.4bn with net profit of KRW 33.2bn in 1Q 2026 to KRW 27.0bn and KRW 26.9bn in 2Q 2026. The company said on July 30, 2026 that first-half cumulative net profit was KRW 60.1bn, down 29.6% from KRW 85.4bn a year earlier.
2
The growth engine is small-business lending. As of end-2Q, loans stood at KRW 19.8tn, up 13.8% year on year, small-business loans more than doubled from KRW 1.6tn to KRW 3.3tn over one year, and corporate loans accounted for about 17% of total won-denominated loans.
3
The direct cause of the profit decline was non-interest income. It fell 68% from KRW 73.3bn to KRW 23.3bn, which the company attributed to lower gains on bond disposals. First-half interest income, by contrast, rose about 20% to KRW 253.0bn and the net interest margin improved from 1.38% to 1.59%.
4
The biggest item to verify is the Upbit partnership. The real-name account agreement with Upbit expires in October, with over 6 million customers trading on Upbit through K Bank accounts and Upbit deposits accounting for roughly 20% of total deposits. On the July 30, 2026 earnings call the company said the renewal process was proceeding normally.
5
Supply-side events also remain. A three-month lock-up covering 35,759,040 shares, about 8.8% of listed shares, was released on June 5, 2026, and the September release includes Woori Bank's remaining stake of about 37.39 million shares, or 9.22%.

Business structure

K Bank is Korea's first internet-only bank, and it newly listed 405,695,151 common shares on the KOSPI on March 5, 2026 at a confirmed offering price of KRW 8,300.

BC Card and one related party form the largest shareholder group with 31.24%, and holders above 5% at listing were disclosed as Woori Bank (11.08%), BCC KINGPIN (5.36%), KHAN SS (5.36%) and NH Investment & Securities (5.11%).

The revenue structure is dominated by interest income from the spread between deposits and loans, supplemented by platform and partnership fees plus securities-related gains and losses.

In the first half of 2026 interest income was KRW 253.0bn versus non-interest income of KRW 23.3bn, showing overwhelming reliance on interest income.

The asset portfolio was historically centered on household credit such as apartment-collateral and unsecured loans, but small-business loans more than doubled in a year, lifting corporate loans to roughly 17% of total won-denominated loans.

On the funding side, the Upbit real-name account partnership has long been a core pillar, yet digital asset deposits fell from KRW 7.49tn in 3Q 2025 to KRW 5.83tn in 4Q 2025 and KRW 5.20tn in 1Q 2026, with their share of total deposits down from 24.6% to 18.4%.

The customer base keeps widening: customers reached 16.45 million at end-1H 2026, up 2.32 million from 14.13 million a year earlier, and penetration versus the population by age bracket hit 32%, the first time above 30%.

Competition is a three-way race with Kakao Bank and Toss Bank, alongside direct rivalry with the digital channels of large commercial banks.

The company said IPO proceeds would be directed into four areas: the small-business and SME market, technology leadership, platform business, and new businesses including digital assets.

Earnings trend

Quarterly revenue · Operating profit

₩69.8B25Q2₩20.7B25Q3₩11B25Q4₩32.4B26Q1₩27B26Q2

RevenueOperating profit

Annual revenue · Operating profit

₩91.9B2022₩16.5B2023₩133B2024₩117.1B2025

RevenueOperating profit

Quarterly results · Last 5 quarters
Quarter	Revenue	Operating profit	Op. margin
2025Q2	—	₩69.8B	—
2025Q3	—	₩20.7B	—
2025Q4	—	₩11B	—
2026Q1	—	₩32.4B	—
2026Q2	—	₩27B	—

Annual results
Year	Revenue	Operating profit	Net income (parent)	Op. margin	ROE	Debt-to-equity
2022	—	₩91.9B	₩83.6B	—	4.6%	825.0%
2023	—	₩16.5B	₩12.8B	—	0.7%	1047.5%
2024	—	₩133B	₩128.1B	—	6.4%	1462.4%
2025	—	₩117.1B	₩112.6B	—	5.2%	1367.2%

Consolidated basis (financial statements including subsidiaries) · Final figures from DART filings · Net income attributable to owners of the parent · Data as of 2026-09-04

Earnings analysis

Confirmed financials show annual operating profit and net profit of KRW 91.9bn / KRW 83.6bn in 2022, KRW 16.5bn / KRW 12.8bn in 2023, KRW 133.0bn / KRW 128.1bn in 2024, and KRW 117.1bn / KRW 112.6bn in 2025.

The 2023 slump was a year of concentrated credit costs; earnings then recovered sharply in 2024 before turning modestly lower again in 2025.

Equity rose steadily from KRW 1,866.9bn in 2023 to KRW 1,995.8bn in 2024 and KRW 2,171.8bn in 2025, while end-2025 liabilities were KRW 29,692.5bn and the debt-to-equity ratio 1,367.2%, reflecting the funding structure typical of banking.

Operating cash flow has been volatile, swinging from negative KRW 513.8bn in 2023 to KRW 1,849.7bn in 2024 and KRW 616.7bn in 2025. The quarterly path is even clearer.

Operating profit fell from KRW 69.8bn in 2Q 2025 to KRW 20.7bn in 3Q and KRW 11.0bn in 4Q, recovered to KRW 32.4bn in 1Q 2026, then eased to KRW 27.0bn in 2Q 2026. Net profit followed a similar path: KRW 68.2bn in 2Q 2025, KRW 19.2bn in 3Q, KRW 9.2bn in 4Q, KRW 33.2bn in 1Q 2026 and KRW 26.9bn in 2Q 2026.

The high base contained a one-off: in 2Q 2025 the bank booked a large one-time gain by disposing of non-performing loan assets ahead of its listing.

Still, the 2Q market estimate compiled by FnGuide was KRW 37.5bn and the actual result came in KRW 10.6bn below it, and while the credit cost ratio improved from 1.13% to 1.08%, credit costs themselves rose 24.2% to KRW 51.3bn - together explaining the recent earnings softness.

Second-quarter interest income rose just 2.1% quarter on quarter to KRW 127.8bn, the overall net interest margin slipped 0.02 percentage point to 1.96%, while the margin excluding Upbit deposits rose 0.02 percentage point to 1.59%.

Net profit for the most recent four quarters (3Q 2025 through 2Q 2026) totals KRW 88.4bn, still below the full-year 2024 level.

Industry analysis

The pivotal variables for internet-only banks are household lending rules and the shift in growth drivers.

In a March 2026 report, analyst Baek Doo-san of Korea Investment & Securities assessed that aggregate household debt caps and mid-to-low credit lending share targets make household loan growth difficult, and that while SME lending is the way out, intensifying competition among financial institutions makes it hard to grow loans as fast as capital capacity allows.

The profit gap among the three players is clear. In 2025 K Bank's net profit fell, while Kakao Bank's rose from KRW 440.1bn to KRW 480.3bn and Toss Bank's from KRW 43.3bn to KRW 101.9bn (Bizhankook, March 2026). K Bank's differentiator is collateralized small-business lending.

Small-business loans stood at KRW 3,301.0bn at end-2Q, up 30% quarter on quarter, and the share of collateral- or guarantee-backed products reached 45%, about 15 percentage points higher than a year earlier.

Asset quality remains within a managed range: the overall non-performing loan ratio was 0.59%, only 0.02 percentage point above end-2025, described as sound relative to regional banks that have passed the 1% line. On digital assets, the regulatory framework is still being drafted.

The National Assembly has been pressing the government to submit its Digital Asset Basic Act bill covering stablecoins, and key issues such as a bank-led 50%-plus-one-share consortium rule and ownership limits for crypto exchanges remain unsettled (Edaily, September 3, 2026).

Currently each exchange effectively links real-name accounts with only one bank, and industry observers note that allowing multiple bank partnerships could reshuffle the partnership landscape.

Outlook

Management's stated direction is continued asset growth plus revenue diversification.

On the July 30, 2026 earnings call, strategy head Lee Joon-hyung said profit growth should follow asset growth with stronger expansion in the third quarter, and that rising market rates expected in the second half make him positive on second-half results.

The company guided to asset growth in the high teens for 2026 and said annual growth in SOHO loans should exceed KRW 2tn (EBN, May 2026).

Product roadmaps are also public: the small-business real-estate collateral loan will expand eligible collateral from apartments to row houses, multi-family homes, officetels and retail units, and lending purposes from working capital to facility funding, and the bank has begun building a credit system with the goal of launching a non-face-to-face lending service for small and mid-sized corporates next year.

As a longer-term target, it has presented a plan to balance household versus small-business and SME exposure at 50:50 by 2030.

Capital capacity has been replenished: the BIS capital ratio was 20.02% at end-2Q 2026, and Meritz Securities estimated in a February 2026 report that the BIS ratio would reach about 24.5% upon IPO completion, implying loan growth capacity of up to KRW 24tn and an annual average loan growth rate of around 20%.

In new businesses, the bank plans to build a stablecoin-based remittance and payment network using BC Card infrastructure and became the first Korean bank to sign a partnership with Ripple in April 2026.

On the other hand, the company itself stated in its securities registration statement that it cannot rule out Dunamu adding partnerships with other financial institutions or terminating the partnership after the contract expires in October 2026, leaving this the largest unresolved variable in the second-half outlook.

Valuation

PER

25.9×

PBR

0.9×

ROE

3.8%

EPS

₩216

BPS

₩6,373

Dividend per share

₩0

Debate over K Bank's valuation has run since the offering stage.

The IPO price was set at the bottom of the indicative band, and the implied price-to-book ratio of about 1.38 times was viewed by brokerage industry participants as not aggressive given the growth premium attached to internet-only banks (Dealsite, February 2026).

Today the multiple assigned by the market sits below that pricing basis and below book value per share, so the gap between the listing-stage premise and market perception has not closed.

On earnings, cumulative net profit over the most recent four quarters remains below the full-year 2024 figure, making the pace of profit recovery the practical reference point for any multiple discussion.

The absence of a cash dividend track record also distinguishes the stock from dividend-centric names within the banking sector.

According to an Etoday report in June 2026, the share price had stayed below the offering price since listing, attributed to concerns about slowing internet-bank growth, valuation pressure across financial stocks, and early post-listing overhang.

Ultimately, any realignment of the multiple hinges on three verifiable facts: the outcome of the October Upbit renewal, the profit contribution from small-business lending, and how released lock-up shares are actually absorbed.

PER, EPS, PBR and BPS are all calculated in-house (the same method as Naver and Toss) · Dividend yield = cash dividend per share from DART filings (supplemented by KRX) ÷ current price · As of 2026-09-04

Bull factors

Small-business lending improving in both volume and quality

Small-business loans reached KRW 3,301.0bn at end-2Q, up 30% quarter on quarter - the largest increase since product launch and the first time above KRW 3tn.

Notably, asset quality did not deteriorate alongside the volume: the delinquency rate in the small-business segment fell from 0.93% at end-2Q 2025 to 0.51% at end-2Q 2026. This is attributed to a tilt toward collateral- and guarantee-backed products, whose share rose to 45%. With household lending rules still tight, this remains one area where growth headroom is left.

Capital headroom and customer reach

The BIS capital ratio stood at 20.02% at end-2Q 2026, a level capable of supporting loan expansion. The company said the listing strengthened its capital base, securing capacity to grow new loans by more than about KRW 10tn.

On the customer side, it had 16.45 million customers at end-1H with 32% penetration versus the population by age bracket, broadening across all age groups. Room for improvement in both penetration and lending capacity is cited as the basis for the growth case.

Optionality in digital-asset adjacent businesses

Management argues that as digital assets move into the regulated perimeter, a bank's role widens from providing individual real-name accounts to corporate trading, cash management, payments and remittances.

It is pursuing a stablecoin-based remittance and payment network built on BC Card infrastructure and became the first Korean bank to partner with Ripple in April 2026. For the second half, it has set strengthening digital-asset business capability as a task.

That said, with neither the legislative timeline nor the issuance structure finalized, the timing of any actual profit contribution is not yet verifiable.

Bear factors

Falling profit and results below market estimates

Annual net profit fell from KRW 128.1bn in 2024 to KRW 112.6bn in 2025, and in 2026 momentum slowed from KRW 33.2bn in 1Q to KRW 26.9bn in 2Q. Even allowing for the one-off base effect, the 2Q result came in KRW 10.6bn below the FnGuide market estimate of KRW 37.5bn.

A 1.3% quarter-on-quarter rise in loan loss provisions and a 2.9% increase in general administrative expenses driven by personnel costs were also cited as drags. Earnings power is recovering more slowly than assets are growing.

Upbit dependence and rising funding costs

Upbit deposits account for roughly 20% of K Bank's total deposits, making the renewal decision a key variable for the deposit base. After the deposit usage fee rate rose to 2.1% per year, observers note these funds shifted from low-cost deposits to money whose funding cost must be weighed.

Hana Bank's acquisition of a 6.55% stake in Dunamu for about KRW 1,003.3bn, making it the fourth-largest shareholder, is also raised as a possible catalyst for change in the partnership structure. Lower earnings tied to Upbit deposits were also identified as a reason 2Q interest income growth was limited.

Lock-up releases and shifting shareholder composition

By one media tally, shares scheduled for lock-up release between June and September 2026 - Woori Bank's remaining stake plus holdings of major financial investors including MBK Partners, MG Community Credit Cooperatives and JS Shinhan Partners - amount to roughly 119 million shares.

Woori Financial Group removed K Bank from Woori Bank's list of associates in its 1Q 2026 business report, and the market is watching for possible additional stake sales after the September lock-up release. Commentators have also noted that the foreign investor base is close to non-existent. This means supply-and-demand factors can influence trading independently of earnings.

Risk factors

Credit risk

With small-business loans more than doubling in a year, loss absorption pressure could rise in an economic slowdown. Credit costs rose 24.2% to KRW 51.3bn in 2Q 2026 from KRW 41.3bn a year earlier, and the overall delinquency rate edged up from 0.59% to 0.60%.

The non-performing loan ratio also rose 0.08 percentage point from 0.51% to 0.59%. A higher collateralized share provides a buffer, but whether self-employed sector conditions are deteriorating needs checking each quarter.

Regulatory and policy risk

A March 2026 Korea Investment & Securities report argued that aggregate household debt caps and pressure to meet mid-to-low credit lending share targets make rapid household loan growth difficult, while intensifying competition with commercial banks makes the pace of small-business and SME loan expansion hard to guarantee.

The mid-to-low credit lending share has been maintained at an annual average of 33.7%, above the 30% regulatory benchmark.

On digital assets, core issues remain unresolved, including whether won stablecoin issuance will be limited to bank-led consortia holding 50% plus one share and whether a 15-20% ownership cap will be applied uniformly to crypto exchanges.

Business concentration risk

The revenue mix is heavily tilted to interest income, so swings in non-interest income move quarterly profit. First-half 2026 non-interest income fell 68% to KRW 23.3bn from KRW 73.3bn a year earlier, which the company attributed to lower bond disposal gains.

Management said it would raise non-interest income in the second half by launching app-based reward services and strengthening advertising partnerships.

In addition, because the company itself disclosed in its securities registration statement the possibility that the partnership could end after the Dunamu contract expires, dependence on a single partnership is itself a structural item to monitor.

What to watch next

During September 2026
Reports noted that from September the sale restriction on Woori Bank's stake of about 9% is lifted, so potential supply pressure may continue after the financial investor tranche. Whether shares are actually sold can be confirmed through shareholding change filings, an indicator of how the shareholder base is shifting.
October 2026
The real-name account partnership with Upbit expires in October. Market expectations lean toward an extension, but it remains to be verified whether the term and conditions are disclosed and whether multiple bank partnerships will be permitted.
Late October to November 2026
Third-quarter results and IR materials. Since management said it expects stronger growth in the third quarter, the items to check are whether the net interest margin, credit cost ratio, small-business loan balance and the margin excluding Upbit deposits improve together.
After late September 2026
It was reported on September 3, 2026 that the Democratic Party is pushing to hold a public hearing on the Digital Asset Basic Act in late September. How the bank 50%-plus-one-share consortium proposal is settled is the factual checkpoint that will determine the structure for participating in stablecoin business.
Second half of 2026 through 2027
Whether the small-business real-estate collateral loan expands eligible collateral to row houses, multi-family homes, officetels and retail units and extends to facility funding, and whether the non-face-to-face lending system for small and mid-sized corporates, launched with a target of next year, proceeds on schedule, will indicate the next axis of asset growth.

Overall view

In the first half of 2026 K Bank showed a combination of growing assets and retreating profit.

Loans rose 13.8% year on year to KRW 19.8tn and small-business loans expanded from KRW 1.6tn to KRW 3.3tn over one year, yet confirmed net profit slipped from KRW 33.2bn in 1Q 2026 to KRW 26.9bn in 2Q, and on an annual basis fell from KRW 128.1bn in 2024 to KRW 112.6bn in 2025.

The main channels of the decline were a 68% drop in non-interest income as bond disposal gains shrank and a 24.2% rise in credit costs, while conversely the net interest margin improved from 1.38% to 1.59%. The focal points for the next six months are relatively clear.

The partnership agreement underpinning Upbit deposits, which make up roughly 20% of total deposits, expires in October, and the sale restriction on Woori Bank's stake lifts from September.

With a BIS capital ratio of 20.02%, capital headroom to expand lending is in place, but brokerage analysis has been cautious about how quickly that headroom can be deployed given household lending rules and intensifying competition in corporate lending.

Ultimately, whether the shift in growth drivers translates into profit, and whether digital-asset legislation crystallizes into real business opportunity, will be confirmed sequentially through quarterly results and disclosures. This report is for informational purposes and does not contain any buy or sell opinion on the security.

Sources

Korea Exchange (KRX) — Prices · Market Cap · Volume
FSS electronic disclosure system (DART) — Financial statements · Dividend filings

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Report written 2026-09-05 · Data as of 2026-09-04

This content is AI analysis of market data and web search results, provided for information only. It is not a solicitation or recommendation to invest. Investment decisions and their consequences are the investor's own responsibility. Data may be delayed or contain errors.