Kakao, 2Q Operating Profit 171 Billion KRW, Up 5% YoY... 'Holding Steady' (Update)

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] Kakao announced on the 4th that its consolidated sales for the second quarter of this year reached 1.8223 trillion KRW, a 35% increase compared to the same period last year. Operating profit increased by 5% year-on-year to 171 billion KRW, with an operating profit margin of 9.4%.

Platform segment sales were recorded at 930.7 billion KRW, up 22% year-on-year. Talk Biz sales decreased by 2% compared to the previous quarter but showed steady growth with 453.2 billion KRW, a 16% increase year-on-year.

Among these, Talk Biz advertising sales such as Biz Board and KakaoTalk Channel grew 28% year-on-year despite the economic downturn, while Talk Biz transaction sales including Gift and Talk Store increased by 2% year-on-year.

Portal Biz sales decreased by 18% year-on-year to 102.4 billion KRW. Other platform segment sales recorded 375.1 billion KRW, up 21% quarter-on-quarter and 52% year-on-year, driven by recovery in mobility demand and stable revenue growth of Kakao Pay.

Kakao's content segment sales increased by 51% year-on-year to 891.7 billion KRW. Story sales decreased by 5% quarter-on-quarter due to the impact of the weak Japanese yen but grew 22% year-on-year to 227.6 billion KRW.

Music sales increased by 11% year-on-year to 209.3 billion KRW, and media sales rose 35% year-on-year to 118 billion KRW. Game sales reached 336.8 billion KRW, a 162% increase year-on-year. This reflects the impact of mobile game ‘Odin’ sales in Taiwan and the new release of 'Umamusume: Pretty Derby.'

Operating expenses for Q2 2022 increased by 39% year-on-year to 1.6513 trillion KRW, influenced by marketing investments related to the expansion of global content business.

Kakao is preparing new growth engines by promoting strong integration of businesses such as KakaoTalk, advertising, and commerce. It plans to redefine each tab of KakaoTalk and add non-purposeful and social interaction elements to the Profile and Friends tabs. Additionally, it aims to expand services and discover business opportunities through improvements in entry points and feature upgrades of open chat based on interests between non-business users.

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