Kakao Surpasses 4 Trillion Won Annual Revenue... Record High Performance (Update)

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] Kakao's annual sales have exceeded 4 trillion won for the first time since its establishment.

Kakao announced on the 9th that its consolidated sales last year reached 4.1567 trillion won, a 35% increase compared to the previous year.

Operating profit was 456 billion won, up 121% from the previous year.

Consolidated sales in the fourth quarter of last year were 1.2351 trillion won, up 12% from the previous quarter and 46% from the same period last year, while operating profit recorded 149.8 billion won, up 25% from the previous quarter and 88% from the same period last year.

Kakao's platform division sales in the fourth quarter of 2020 increased by 19% from the previous quarter and 48% from the same period last year, totaling 657 billion won.

Talk Biz sales increased by 63% from the same period last year to 360.3 billion won. Portal Biz sales decreased by 9% from the same period last year to 122.7 billion won due to a decline in search advertising revenue caused by the impact of COVID-19.

New business division sales increased by 97% from the same period last year to 174 billion won, driven by the expansion of Kakao Mobility's taxi platform business and the growth of Kakao Pay's payment transaction volume and financial services.

Content division sales recorded 578.1 billion won, up 43% from the same period last year. Paid content sales grew 233% from the same period last year to 163.6 billion won due to the base effect from the application of K-IFRS by Kakao Japan.

Game content sales achieved 140.8 billion won, a 33% increase from the same period last year. Music content sales remained at a similar level to the previous quarter, recording 155.1 billion won. Other IP business sales increased by 25% from the same period last year to 118.6 billion won, driven by increased video content sales such as dramas and original content from Kakao M and strong music distribution.

Annual operating expenses in 2020 increased by 29% from the previous year to 3.7007 trillion won. Consolidated operating expenses in the fourth quarter increased by 11% from the previous quarter and 41% from the same period last year to 1.0852 trillion won. This was influenced by increased labor costs due to the inclusion of consolidated subsidiaries and hiring of new developers, as well as increased marketing expenses.

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