Kakao Achieves Record First-Quarter Results... Operating Profit Up 66%

Operating Profit Reaches 211.4 Billion Won, Up 66% Year-on-Year

Double-Digit Revenue Growth in Platform, Commerce, Mobility, and Pay

“We Will Transition to an Agentic AI Platform”

Kakao achieved its highest-ever first-quarter results.

On May 7, Kakao announced that its consolidated operating profit for the first quarter of this year was provisionally tallied at KRW 211.4 billion, a 66% increase compared to the same period last year. Revenue during the same period rose 11% to KRW 1.9421 trillion. Both revenue and operating profit marked all-time highs for a first quarter.

Kakao Pangyo Agit in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

Kakao decided to sell Kakao Games to LY Corporation (LINE Yahoo), and as a result, classified the performance of Kakao Games as discontinued operations. If Kakao Games' numbers were not classified as discontinued operations, revenue and operating profit would have increased by 4.2% and 100.6%, respectively, compared to the same period last year.

By business segment, first-quarter revenue from the platform division rose 16% year-on-year to KRW 1.1827 trillion. Within the platform division, Talk Biz revenue rose 9% to KRW 608.6 billion compared to the same period last year. Talk Biz advertising revenue reached KRW 338.4 billion, a 16% increase year-on-year.

Business message revenue grew 27% year-on-year, driven by higher overall message volume due to increased demand from financial advertisers and an expanded range of message products available to advertisers. Display advertising also saw a 10% increase in revenue compared to the same period last year.

The total transaction volume for first-quarter Talk Biz Commerce, including "Kakao Gift" and "Talk Deal," reached KRW 2.9 trillion, representing 10% growth from the previous year. Kakao explained that this was due to expanding product assortment focused on high-demand categories such as fresh food and home appliances, and by offering personalized benefits to users. Commerce revenue for the first quarter was KRW 270 billion, up 1% year-on-year.

Other platform revenue, which includes mobility and Kakao Pay, increased 30% from a year ago to KRW 506.5 billion. Mobility reported double-digit revenue growth for three consecutive quarters year-on-year, based on services such as taxi, parking, last-mile logistics, and advertising. Kakao Pay’s quarterly revenue surpassed KRW 300 billion for the first time, thanks to growth across all service areas.

First-quarter revenue from the content division was KRW 759.4 billion, up 5% from the year before. Music revenue rose 11% to KRW 484.6 billion, media revenue grew 23% to KRW 92.4 billion, and story revenue reached KRW 182.4 billion.

The operating margin for the first quarter was 11%. Although the first quarter is typically a slow season with relatively lower profitability, improved efficiency centered on core businesses contributed to enhanced profitability.

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