Kakao Reports Record High Q2 Revenue of 952.9 Billion Won (Update)

Operating Profit Increased 142% Year-on-Year to 97.8 Billion
KakaoTalk-Based Advertising and Commerce Business Drive Revenue Growth

[Asia Economy Reporter Jin-gyu Lee] Kakao has posted its highest-ever performance in the second quarter.

On the 6th, Kakao announced that its second-quarter sales reached 952.9 billion KRW, a 30% increase compared to the same period last year. Operating profit was 97.8 billion KRW, up 142% year-on-year, with an operating margin of 10.3%. All of these are record highs on a quarterly basis.

The overall revenue growth was driven by the expansion of advertising and commerce businesses based on KakaoTalk, new business sectors, and the growth of the global paid content business.

Kakao's platform segment revenue in the second quarter recorded 492.7 billion KRW, a 51% increase compared to the same period last year. Talk Biz revenue increased 79% year-on-year to 248.4 billion KRW due to the expansion of Kakao Bizboard revenue and growth in commerce sales. Portal Biz revenue decreased 14% year-on-year to 117.5 billion KRW. New business segment revenue rose 149% year-on-year to 126.8 billion KRW. In the second quarter, the revenue growth of new mobility businesses remained strong following the previous quarter, and the expansion of Kakao Pay's financial services also drove growth.

Content segment revenue increased 13% year-on-year to 460.2 billion KRW. Paid content revenue grew 46% year-on-year to 119 billion KRW, supported by the increase in global transaction volume of Kakao Japan and the expansion of Kakao Page's intellectual property (IP) business value. In particular, Kakao Japan's Piccoma transaction volume grew approximately 2.5 times year-on-year, emerging as one of the most notable platforms in Japan, one of the world's largest content markets.

Game content revenue achieved 107.5 billion KRW, a 9% increase year-on-year, driven by the growth of mobile games such as "Dalbitjogaksa" (Moonlight Sculptor). Music content revenue reached 151 billion KRW, up 4% year-on-year. Other IP business revenue increased 1% year-on-year to 82.7 billion KRW.

Operating expenses in the second quarter rose 23% year-on-year to 855.1 billion KRW, influenced by an increase in personnel due to the consolidation of subsidiaries and the expansion of outsourced infrastructure.