Online lender Kakao Bank said Wednesday its net profit jumped over 46 percent from a year earlier in the second quarter amid a steady increase in the number of its customers. Its net profit came to 120.2 billion won (US$87.4 million) in the April-June period, up 46.6 percent from the same period last year, the company said in a regulatory filing. Operating profit surged 51.9 percent on-year to 169.8 billion won over the cited period. The company attributed the sharp increase to a steady rise in the number of customers, as well as the "equal growth of all business sectors, including its banking and platform businesses." It added that its number of customers gained 1.2 million in the first half of the year, bringing the total to over 24 million as of end-June. For the first half, the company's net profit jumped 25.9 percent on-year to a record high of 231.4 billion won, with its operating profit surging 28.2 percent to 318.2 billion won. As of end-June, the bank's overall deposits stood at 53.4 trillion won, while its outstanding loans reached 42.6 trillion won. "The proportion of its low-cost deposits climbed to 56.9 percent, maintaining the integrity of Kakao Bank's unique low-cost funding system and also widening the gap with the average of other banks, which is at 38.5 percent," the company said in a press release. Source: Yonhap News Agency