[비즈한국] The stock price of K-Bank, which went public on the 5th, is struggling. Although the company managed to list after three attempts, the stock performance has failed to meet expectations, leading to growing concerns among investors. Moreover, K-Bank's earnings last year were relatively weak, and there are doubts regarding its future outlook.
K-Bank closed at 6,710 won on the 19th, down 19.16% from its initial public offering (IPO) price of 8,300 won. When CEO Choi Woo-hyung was recommended as the sole candidate for the next CEO in February, he stated, "We will accelerate innovative finance through the proceeds from the IPO and do our best to enhance shareholder value through steady growth." Contrary to his words, there is no sign of the stock price rebounding.
K-Bank's stock has fallen even as the domestic stock market generally trends upward. Its decline is particularly stark compared to Kakao Bank323410, another internet-only bank. Kakao Bank closed at 22,200 won on the 4th, the day before K-Bank's listing, and 24,650 won on the 19th. While Kakao Bank's performance isn't necessarily booming, its situation is significantly better than that of K-Bank.
Securities firms are also expressing uncertainty about K-Bank's future stock price. Baek Doo-san, an analyst at Korea Investment & Securities, noted, "It is difficult to increase household loans due to total household debt regulations and targets for the proportion of loans to medium-to-low credit borrowers. While SME loans are a growth breakthrough, it is hard to increase loans as quickly as new capacity allows amid intensifying competition among financial institutions for corporate lending."
Furthermore, June and September of this year mark the expiration of lock-up periods for a large volume of shares held by K-Bank's major shareholders. If these shareholders sell their stakes during this time, it could put downward pressure on the stock. In fact, Woori Bank, a major shareholder of K-Bank, sold 1.86% of its 11.08% stake on the day of listing, March 5th. This represented all the shares that were not subject to lock-up restrictions.
K-Bank's recent performance also fell short of expectations. Net profit decreased by 12.10% from 128.1 billion won in 2024 to 112.6 billion won in 2025. Conversely, during the same period, Kakao Bank's net profit rose 9.14% from 440.1 billion won to 480.3 billion won. Toss Bank, a latecomer, also saw its net profit surge 135.33% from 43.3 billion won to 101.9 billion won.
The decline in K-Bank's net profit appears to be influenced by increased expenses ahead of the listing. According to its quarterly reports, K-Bank's marketing expenses rose from 22.1 billion won in the first three quarters of 2024 to 30.8 billion won in the same period of 2025. Over the same timeframe, IT service expenses grew from 20 billion won to 25.2 billion won, and payroll increased from 41.9 billion won to 56.9 billion won.
Skepticism also surrounds K-Bank's ability to maintain high growth in the future. Financial authorities require internet-only banks to supply at least 30% of their total credit loan balance to medium-to-low credit borrowers. Failure to meet this requirement leads to disadvantages in various areas, such as approval for new business. This is why K-Bank cannot arbitrarily increase the scale of its loans.
Another issue is the high reliance on Upbit, a cryptocurrency trading platform operated by Dunamu. Upbit partnered with K-Bank in 2020 to provide KRW deposit services; Upbit's KRW deposit and withdrawal services are exclusively available through K-Bank accounts. Consequently, a significant portion of K-Bank's current deposit balance consists of Upbit deposits. However, the partnership contract between Dunamu and K-Bank expires this October, and the possibility of a mass withdrawal of Upbit-related deposits after October cannot be ruled out. Jeon Bae-seung, an analyst at LS Securities, advised, "While the partnership with Upbit should continue, the excessive dependence must be gradually reduced."
K-Bank is aware of these concerns and is attempting to reduce its dependence on Upbit. CEO Choi Woo-hyung mentioned at the February 5th press conference, "Four or five years ago, there were concerns due to the high proportion of these deposits, but it has no impact now." However, Upbit deposits are still estimated to account for around 20% of the total.
Nevertheless, the outlook for K-Bank is not entirely negative. Analyst Jeon Bae-seung assessed, "Following the listing, high asset growth and flexible expansion of interest income are expected based on improved capital ratios. The benefits of economies of scale are likely to manifest, and improvements in cost efficiency and asset soundness should enable enhanced ordinary profitability."
K-Bank stated that it would use the funds raised from the listing to expand into the SME market, strengthen tech leadership, expand platform businesses, and accelerate investment in new businesses including digital assets. Financial circles are paying close attention to whether K-Bank will be able to drive stock price growth through improved earnings.