South Korean online lender Kakao Bank said Wednesday its second-quarter net profit soared 44 percent from a year earlier on growth in interest revenue and an expanded customer base.

Its net profit stood at 81.9 billion won ($63.6 million) in the April-June period, up from a profit of 57 billion won a year earlier, the bank said in a regulatory filing.

Revenue jumped 65.4 percent to 613 billion won over the cited period, and operating income surged 50.2 percent to 112 billion won.

In the first two quarters combined, net profit rose 48.5 percent on-year to a record high of 184 billion won.

As of end-June, its mortgage loans reached 5.5 trillion won, up 3 trillion won from three months ago, as customers flocked to its low-rate products.

The net interest margin, a key barometer of profitability, stood at 2.26 percent in the second, slightly down from 2.29 percent a year earlier.

The loan delinquency rate came to 0.52 percent in the second quarter, down from 0.58 percent the previous quarter.

Its customer base also expanded reaching 21.74 million at the end of June, up from 21.18 million three months ago.

Kakao Bank, the internet-only bank under mobile platform service provider Kakao Corp., has posted fast growth with a focus on household banking since its launch of banking operations in 2017. It was listed on the main Kospi in August 2021. (Yonhap)