By Kwanwoo Jun


KakaoBank Corp.'s shares rallied Wednesday after it posted strong third-quarter earnings.

Shares in the South Korean digital lender, which has no brick-and-mortar branches, jumped as much as 18% to 20,400 won ($14.40) in morning trade, remaining on course to post the largest daily gain since its listing in August 2021. The stock benchmark Kospi edged up 0.1%.

KakaoBank's rally came after it booked quarterly records in net and operating profit, with respective gains of 47% and 51% from a year earlier, supported by higher interest rates and strong user increases.

Its net profit of KRW78.72 billion for the quarter beat an FnGuide-compiled estimate of KRW75.40 billion while being largely in line with a FactSet-compiled forecast of KRW78.99 billion.

KakaoBank said it hit 19.78 million users in late September, more than two-thirds of the economically active population in South Korea.

The internet-based bank said it would buy back its own shares in March 2023.


Write to Kwanwoo Jun at kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

11-02-22 0001ET