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| K bank's headquarters in Seoul / Yonhap |
By Lee Min-hyung
K bank's much-anticipated initial public offering (IPO) is not in sight by the end of 2022, even after the internet-only bank won the qualification to go public on the local stock market.
The Korea Exchange's listing notification committee confirmed Tuesday that the bank is qualified for listing here. Given that the qualification is effective for the next six months, K bank has to complete the process of the public subscription of shares by mid-March.
But the lender will take a wait-and-see attitude for the time being due to the unfavorable stock market environment here. The outlook for a stock rebound remains bleak for the latter half of this year, as the U.S. Fed and the Bank of Korea step up their hawkish rhetoric with additional rate hikes throughout 2022.
The overall IPO market sentiment has also frozen for similar reasons. A group of companies that planned to go public this year withdrew their plans, as they cannot be properly valued amid the ongoing bearish stock market sentiment.
K bank is a first-generation mobile bank established in January 2016. The company experienced a years-long deficit in its early phase, but achieved a turnaround in 2021 with a net profit of 22.5 billion won. The company's largest shareholder is BC Card, which has a stake of 33.7 percent in the bank. The card firm is a subsidiary of KT, one of Korea's major mobile carriers.
Market analysts also expected K bank not to be in a rush for the IPO amid lingering macroeconomic uncertainties.
"The firm's stock listing appears unfeasible before the end of this year," Hana Securities analyst Kim Hong-sik said. "Investors estimate K bank's IPO value to reach around 4 trillion won, but the management from KT expects the figure to exceed at least 7 trillion won."
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