# KakaoBank (323410.KO)

Canonical: https://gigainvestors.com/s/323410.KO

Analysis as of: 2026-10-16T07:36:38.122Z. Financial observations: FY2017–FY2025.

Listing currency: KRW. Reporting currency: KRW.

## Verdict

Not a wonderful business

Quality tests for Buy: not passed (profit record: pass; earnings resilience is evidence only). Published buy qualification: no.

Share price: KRW 20,100.00 per share; close as of 2026-10-15.

## Checklist

### understandable: fail

- positive earnings in fewer than 9 of 9 years

- Financial history: 9 years

- Profitable years in the last ten: 7

- Required profitable years: 9

- Return on common equity variation (informational): 3.93×

Chart: Net income; fiscal year observations.

- FY2017: KRW -104B

- FY2018: KRW -21B

- FY2019: KRW 14B

- FY2020: KRW 114B

- FY2021: KRW 204B

- FY2022: KRW 263B

- FY2023: KRW 355B

- FY2024: KRW 440B

- FY2025: KRW 480B

### moat: fail

- Tangible common book per share

- Parent-total proxy for preferred equity and common earnings

- median return on common equity below threshold

- return on tangible common equity below 5% in more than one year

- Bank / P&C ROTE, median of available years: 4.1%

- Required median return: 12.0%

- Return uses tangible common equity: Yes

- Bank ROTE, second-lowest year: -1.9%

- Years with reported combined ratio: 0

Chart: Return on tangible common equity; fiscal year observations.

- FY2017: -17.7%

- FY2018: -1.9%

- FY2019: 0.8%

- FY2020: 4.1%

- FY2021: 3.7%

- FY2022: 4.6%

- FY2023: 5.8%

- FY2024: 6.8%

- FY2025: 7.2%

### economics: pass

- Tangible common book per share

- Parent-total proxy for preferred equity and common earnings

- Book value per share + reinvested dividends, annualized return: 33.6%

- Book return interval: 8 years

- Starting book value per share: KRW 1K

- Ending book value per share: KRW 14K

Chart: Annual book + dividend return; fiscal year observations.

- FY2018: 82.3%

- FY2019: 50.7%

- FY2020: 69.6%

- FY2021: 71.9%

- FY2022: 3.1%

- FY2023: 7.7%

- FY2024: 8.0%

- FY2025: 5.8%

### management: pass

- Tangible common book per share

- Parent-total proxy for preferred equity and common earnings

- Unreported buybacks treated as zero; retained-earnings test is conservative

- Diluted shares, 10-year annual growth: 1.9%

- Diluted shares, 5-year annual growth: 3.1%

- Share growth excluding flagged crisis recapitalisations: 1.9%

- Five-year share growth excluding flagged crisis recapitalisations: 3.1%

- Flagged crisis recapitalisations: 0

- Book created / earnings retained after dividends and buybacks: 3.84×

- Book value created per share: KRW 13K

- Earnings retained per share after dividends and buybacks: KRW 3K

Chart: Shares (first year = 100); fiscal year observations.

- FY2017: 100

- FY2018: 100

- FY2019: 100

- FY2020: 100

- FY2021: 116

- FY2022: 117

- FY2023: 116

- FY2024: 116

- FY2025: 116

### accounting: pass

- Financial accounting warning count: 0

- Known restatement years: 0

## Holders

## Price story

Down 69% since Nov 2021 · net income +9.1%

Story as of 2026-10-16T10:00:07.826Z; price observation 2026-10-15.

### Net income · FY2025

net income +9.1%; source https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/; observed 2026-10-16.

- FY2017: KRW -104B 

- FY2018: KRW -21B 

- FY2019: KRW 14B 

- FY2020: KRW 114B 

- FY2021: KRW 204B 

- FY2022: KRW 263B 

- FY2023: KRW 355B 

- FY2024: KRW 440B 

- FY2025: KRW 480B 

## Owner memo

Memo as of 2026-10-16T08:06:05.509Z.

### How it makes money

Operates in regional banking; annual sales are KRW 1.6 trillion.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/api/fundamentals/323410.KO.json#2025-12-31 (filed 2026-10-16T07:36:38.122Z); FY2025: revenue 1592264000000.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16); 323410.KO: KakaoBank Corp., an Internet bank, provides banking services through electronic financial transaction method in South Korea. It offers various deposits, including checking, group, safe box, piggy bank, journal account, time deposits, flexible savings, and 26 week and one month savings accounts; loans, comprising micro, overdraft, credit, used car, housing deposit, housing deposit loan refinancing, mortgage, and mortgage loan refinancing loans; loan comparison, credit loan refinancing, and credit information services; investments/ forex products, which include funds, securities brokerage accounts, overseas remittance, WU transfer, and dollar boxes. The company also provides cards, including friends and group, co-branded credit cards, and credit card platforms; and business owner and mini services. It operates mobile banking centers and computer data centers. The company was formerly known as KakaoBank of Korea Corp. and changed its name to KakaoBank Corp. in June 2020. The company was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Seongnam-si, South Korea.

### Why customers stay

It earns 4.1% on shareholders’ money, excluding intangible assets.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:36:38.122Z); 9-year return on tangible equity observations [[2017,-0.17695504213113625],[2018,-0.01947031848024339],[2019,0.008464960992590061],[2020,0.0412908908303671],[2021,0.037195216393854855],[2022,0.04626250853714034],[2023,0.05834022494007138],[2024,0.06773557106813069],[2025,0.07163456052835485]]; median 0.0412908908303671. ROIC follows the displayed moat series; financial companies use return on tangible equity.

### Where the cash goes

Paid dividends in 3 of 8 years.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:36:38.122Z); Dividend observations: [[2018,0],[2019,0],[2020,0],[2021,0],[2022,0],[2023,38138000000],[2024,71451000000],[2025,171520000000]]. Zero only counted when supported by a complete cash-flow statement.

### Are managers owners

Insiders own 27.5% of the company.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16); 323410.KO SharesStats.PercentInsiders = 27.454 percentage points; cache date 2026-10-16.

### What the price says

The price is 6 times annual sales.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:36:38.122Z); Closing price 20100 KRW; reporting-to-trading FX 1; FY2025 annual sales per share 3338.489731893903; price multiple 6.020686482266759. FY2025 cash earnings/share 1007.0000002725702. Closing-price date 2026-10-15.

## Monthly share-price history (KRW per share)

- 2021-08: KRW 83,900.00 per share

- 2021-09: KRW 68,400.00 per share

- 2021-10: KRW 63,100.00 per share

- 2021-11: KRW 65,600.00 per share

- 2021-12: KRW 59,000.00 per share

- 2022-01: KRW 41,000.00 per share

- 2022-02: KRW 48,000.00 per share

- 2022-03: KRW 51,600.00 per share

- 2022-04: KRW 42,350.00 per share

- 2022-05: KRW 40,650.00 per share

- 2022-06: KRW 30,250.00 per share

- 2022-07: KRW 30,900.00 per share

- 2022-08: KRW 27,300.00 per share

- 2022-09: KRW 20,050.00 per share

- 2022-10: KRW 17,100.00 per share

- 2022-11: KRW 25,050.00 per share

- 2022-12: KRW 24,300.00 per share

- 2023-01: KRW 27,100.00 per share

- 2023-02: KRW 26,650.00 per share

- 2023-03: KRW 24,150.00 per share

- 2023-04: KRW 22,000.00 per share

- 2023-05: KRW 26,200.00 per share

- 2023-06: KRW 23,750.00 per share

- 2023-07: KRW 26,000.00 per share

- 2023-08: KRW 26,350.00 per share

- 2023-09: KRW 23,350.00 per share

- 2023-10: KRW 18,160.00 per share

- 2023-11: KRW 26,200.00 per share

- 2023-12: KRW 28,500.00 per share

- 2024-01: KRW 27,300.00 per share

- 2024-02: KRW 28,450.00 per share

- 2024-03: KRW 27,550.00 per share

- 2024-04: KRW 25,100.00 per share

- 2024-05: KRW 22,250.00 per share

- 2024-06: KRW 20,300.00 per share

- 2024-07: KRW 21,400.00 per share

- 2024-08: KRW 22,100.00 per share

- 2024-09: KRW 21,150.00 per share

- 2024-10: KRW 21,650.00 per share

- 2024-11: KRW 22,350.00 per share

- 2024-12: KRW 21,050.00 per share

- 2025-01: KRW 21,200.00 per share

- 2025-02: KRW 24,650.00 per share

- 2025-03: KRW 22,050.00 per share

- 2025-04: KRW 22,300.00 per share

- 2025-05: KRW 23,500.00 per share

- 2025-06: KRW 30,000.00 per share

- 2025-07: KRW 28,100.00 per share

- 2025-08: KRW 24,650.00 per share

- 2025-09: KRW 23,750.00 per share

- 2025-10: KRW 23,150.00 per share

- 2025-11: KRW 21,650.00 per share

- 2025-12: KRW 21,600.00 per share

- 2026-01: KRW 22,900.00 per share

- 2026-02: KRW 27,150.00 per share

- 2026-03: KRW 23,950.00 per share

- 2026-04: KRW 24,350.00 per share

- 2026-05: KRW 22,400.00 per share

- 2026-06: KRW 20,900.00 per share

- 2026-07: KRW 22,100.00 per share

- 2026-08: KRW 21,850.00 per share

- 2026-09: KRW 19,890.00 per share

- 2026-10: KRW 20,150.00 per share

## Annual estimated value (KRW per share)

Historical values use today's bond yield for every fiscal year

Historical values use today's FX rate into trading currency for every fiscal year

Historical values use current restated fundamentals and current commodity classification; they are not point-in-time estimates

## Sources

Estimates depend on assumptions and are not guarantees or investment advice. Underlying data remains subject to its source licenses; public reading does not grant bulk redistribution rights.
← Companies

KakaoBank

323410 · KO

KOSPI 200

Not a wonderful business

1 quality test fails. A lower price would not fix the business.

Share price
KRW 20,100.00
Quality tests
Fail
Annual history
9 years
Market value
$7.1B

The business

How it makes money
Why customers stay
Where the cash goes
Are managers owners
What the price says

1. Is this a good business?

Evidence only; not required for Buy

Profits were positive in 7 years (at least 9 needed).

9y median
KRW 204B
Worst year
KRW -104B
Latest · 2025
KRW 480B

Earned a median 4.1% on tangible equity (minimum 12%), and the second-worst year -1.9% (minimum 5%).

9y median
4.1%
Worst year
-17.7%
Latest · 2025
7.2%

Book value plus dividends grew 33.6% a year (minimum 7%).

8y median
29.4%
Worst year
3.1%
Latest · 2025
5.8%

Ordinary share growth was 1.9% over the full period and 3.1% over five years (either must be at most 2% a year).

9y median
116
Worst year
117
Latest · 2025
116

0 accounting warnings were found (none allowed).

accounting warnings
0
Passing bar
≤ 0

Profit record · pass 2 loss years in 9 (at most 2), three-year average earnings per share 891.33 KRW.

Net incomeKRW 480B
480B-104B20172025
FY2017 · Net income: KRW -104B; FY2018 · Net income: KRW -21B; FY2019 · Net income: KRW 14B; FY2020 · Net income: KRW 114B; FY2021 · Net income: KRW 204B; FY2022 · Net income: KRW 263B; FY2023 · Net income: KRW 355B; FY2024 · Net income: KRW 440B; FY2025 · Net income: KRW 480B
Net income
Book / shareKRW 14K
14K020172025
FY2017 · Book / share: KRW 1K; FY2018 · Book / share: KRW 3K; FY2019 · Book / share: KRW 4K; FY2020 · Book / share: KRW 7K; FY2021 · Book / share: KRW 12K; FY2022 · Book / share: KRW 12K; FY2023 · Book / share: KRW 13K; FY2024 · Book / share: KRW 14K; FY2025 · Book / share: KRW 14K
Book / share
Dividend / shareKRW 359.62
359.62020172025
FY2018 · Dividend / share: KRW 0; FY2019 · Dividend / share: KRW 0; FY2020 · Dividend / share: KRW 0; FY2021 · Dividend / share: KRW 0; FY2022 · Dividend / share: KRW 0; FY2023 · Dividend / share: KRW 79.95; FY2024 · Dividend / share: KRW 149.86; FY2025 · Dividend / share: KRW 359.62
Dividend / share
Return on tangible equity7.2%
10.0%-17.7%20172025
FY2017 · Return on tangible equity: -17.7%; FY2018 · Return on tangible equity: -1.9%; FY2019 · Return on tangible equity: 0.8%; FY2020 · Return on tangible equity: 4.1%; FY2021 · Return on tangible equity: 3.7%; FY2022 · Return on tangible equity: 4.6%; FY2023 · Return on tangible equity: 5.8%; FY2024 · Return on tangible equity: 6.8%; FY2025 · Return on tangible equity: 7.2%
Return on tangible equity
Diluted shares477M
477M020172025
FY2017 · Diluted shares: 410M; FY2018 · Diluted shares: 410M; FY2019 · Diluted shares: 410M; FY2020 · Diluted shares: 410M; FY2021 · Diluted shares: 475M; FY2022 · Diluted shares: 477M; FY2023 · Diluted shares: 477M; FY2024 · Diluted shares: 477M; FY2025 · Diluted shares: 477M
Diluted shares
Prices 15 Oct 2026 · FY2025