Naver Surpasses 1 Trillion KRW Operating Profit in 3 Years... New Businesses Soar (Update)

Hansung-sook, CEO of Naver

[Asia Economy Reporter Bu Aeri] Naver announced on the 28th that it recorded sales of 5.3041 trillion KRW and an operating profit of 1.2153 trillion KRW last year. These figures represent increases of 21.8% and 5.2%, respectively, compared to the previous year.

This is the first time in three years since 2017 that operating profit has exceeded 1 trillion KRW. Considering that subsidiary Line's sales were excluded from the third quarter of last year, this is the highest performance ever. Naver changed its sales classification from the third quarter of last year due to the management integration of Line and Z Holdings. Sales from the subsidiary Line were removed from the existing sales.

Sales in the fourth quarter of last year recorded 1.5126 trillion KRW, an 11.2% increase compared to the previous quarter. Operating profit was 323.8 billion KRW, up 11% from the previous quarter.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, sales from the 'Search Platform,' which includes advertising, remained steady. Fourth-quarter sales of the Search Platform reached 770.2 billion KRW, an 8.5% increase from the previous quarter. Annual sales grew 5.6% year-on-year to 2.8031 trillion KRW.

The shopping business once again played a key role due to the impact of untact (contactless) trends. Commerce division sales in the fourth quarter grew 11% quarter-on-quarter to 316.8 billion KRW. Annual sales recorded 1.0897 trillion KRW, a 37.6% increase compared to the previous year.

The growth of new businesses such as fintech and content also stood out. The fintech division recorded 201.1 billion KRW, a 15.6% increase from the previous quarter, driven by the growth of Naver Pay. Annual sales rose 66.6% year-on-year to 677.5 billion KRW. Naver Financial is expanding its business by actively promoting fintech for thin filers and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through 'Smart Store Business Loans,' targeting those without financial history.

The content business, including webtoons, also showed strong growth. Fourth-quarter sales of content, including Naver Webtoon, increased 20.9% quarter-on-quarter to 138.9 billion KRW. Annual sales grew 48.8% year-on-year to 460.2 billion KRW.

The cloud segment recorded sales of 85.6 billion KRW. This was due to increased demand for cloud services for remote work and online classes amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Annual cloud sales grew 41.4% year-on-year to 273.7 billion KRW.

Naver plans to expand its business through active investments and partnerships going forward. Han Seong-sook, CEO of Naver, said, "We will continuously challenge ourselves to expand the ecosystem that Naver encompasses and grow together through active research and development, M&A, and partnerships, including increasing annual R&D investment of about 25% focused on developing advanced technology-based smart tools that enhance the digital competitiveness of SMEs and creators."

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