[Click eStock] "Kakao, Rapid Growth in Pay and Bank... Advertising Revenue Also Soaring"

Success of In-App Ads 'TalkBizBoard' on KakaoTalk... Daily Revenue Reaches 400 Million KRW

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] Kakao is achieving significant performance improvements based on KakaoTalk advertising revenue. New businesses such as Kakao Pay and Kakao Mobility are also showing growth trends, reducing their deficit margins.

On the 7th, NH Investment & Securities forecasted that Kakao will record sales of 3.59 trillion KRW and an operating profit of 329.3 billion KRW this year. Compared to the previous year, sales are expected to increase by 17%, and operating profit by 66.7%.

This is because the Talk Biz Board, which commercialized ads in the KakaoTalk chat list window starting last October, has rapidly increased advertising revenue. In fact, the Talk Biz Board reportedly achieved daily sales of 400 million KRW last month. Additionally, existing Kakao advertising products such as Notification Talk, Plus Friend, and #Tab Ads are steadily growing. Accordingly, Talk Biz revenue is expected to increase by 57.3% year-on-year to 201.2 billion KRW last year.

Performance improvements in new businesses are also a positive factor. Jaemin Ahn, a researcher at NH Investment & Securities, stated, "The improved performance of subsidiaries such as Kakao Mobility, Kakao Pay (simple payment), Kakao Bank (finance), Kakao Page (webtoons, web novels, and other content), and Kakao M (music) will contribute to overall operating profit growth," adding, "Results in various sectors such as fintech (technology + finance), content, and mobility will gradually become more concrete."

NH Investment & Securities gave Kakao a buy rating and set a target price of 210,000 KRW. The closing price on the 6th was 154,000 KRW. Kakao was also selected as the top pick in the internet sector for next year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.