Rakuten registers increase in FinTech profit in 2020
Rakuten Inc (TYO:4755) today published its financial report for the full year to end-December 2020, with the numbers revealing a solid performance delivered by the FinTech segment.
In credit card related services, Rakuten Card’s membership base continued to expand after the number of its members topped 20 million in June 2020 and 21 million in November 2020. Although consumption remains constrained in lodging and dining services, the growth in transaction volume mainly in online shopping contributed to increases in revenue and profit. The transaction value of credit card shopping with Rakuten Card exceeded ¥11 trillion for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020.
In banking services as well, the number of newly acquired bank accounts rose steadily after the total number of accounts exceeded 9 million in June 2020, leading to increased income from service transactions, etc. and contributing to revenue growth.
Similarly, in securities services, the number of newly opened accounts continued to rise significantly, with the total number of cash management accounts topping 5 million in December 2020, and at the same time, domestic shares and FX trading commissions rose. The resulting increase in commission earnings mainly contributed to higher revenue and profit.
As a result, the FinTech segment recorded ¥576,195 million in revenue, an 18.5% year-on-year increase, while segment profit stood at ¥81,291 million, marking a 17.3% year-on-year increase.
Across all segments, the Rakuten Group recorded revenue of ¥1,455,538 million, up 15.2% year-on-year. However, due to ongoing prior investments in the Mobile segment, such as the installment of its own base stations, it recorded Non-GAAP operating losses of ¥102,667 million, compared to Non-GAAP operating income of ¥95,129 million in the previous fiscal year.
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020, the company decided to pay a dividend of ¥4.5 per share (¥4.5 per share for the previous fiscal year).