Naver, South Korea’s largest online portal operator, reported a 31.3% decrease in net profit for the first quarter compared to the previous year, citing foreign exchange losses as the primary cause. The company’s net profit fell to 291 billion won from 423.7 billion won in the same period last year. Operating profit, however, increased by 7.2% to 541.8 billion won during the first quarter.
The company spokesperson explained that the decline in net profit was mainly due to increased translation losses on the company’s dollar-denominated debt when converted into the local currency. Despite the drop in net profit, Naver saw a 16.3% increase in sales, reaching 3.24 trillion won in the first quarter, up from 2.78 trillion won in the same period last year. However, these results fell below market expectations, with the average estimated net profit standing at 513.7 billion won.
Naver’s mainstay platform business, covering search, advertisement, and shopping, experienced a 14.7% increase in sales to 1.8 trillion won from the previous year. The global business segment, which includes online marketplaces and webtoon platforms, reported a sales increase of 18.4% to 941.6 billion won in the first quarter. Additionally, the financial platform’s sales grew by 18.9% year-on-year to 459.7 billion won.
Choi Soo-yeon, Naver’s CEO, highlighted the company’s unique platform that integrates search, commerce, and payment infrastructure, positioning it as a competitive player in the AI agent era. He emphasized Naver’s focus on identifying opportunities in global growth areas, such as sovereign AI, to drive overall revenue growth.
