NHN achieved its highest performance in the third quarter. The expansion of payment, advertising, and cloud businesses drove the strong results. NHN, which had been evaluated as having an ambiguous identity, has set a strategy to re-emerge as a global IT company through cloud services, cooperation with domestic and international companies, and blockchain technology partnerships.
Payment and Advertising Revenue Surpasses 200 Billion KRW
NHN announced on the 9th that it recorded sales of 472.5 billion KRW and an operating profit of 27.9 billion KRW in the third quarter. These figures represent increases of 14.8% and 18.6% respectively compared to the previous year, marking the highest quarterly record. NHN changed its accounting standards starting from the third quarter of this year after selling its subsidiary PNP Secure. Sales and expenses related to PNP Secure were excluded. The record performance was achieved retroactively applying the accounting standard changes.
Jung Woo-jin, CEO of NHN, said, "The third quarter was a period when NHN achieved the highest quarterly sales, operating profit, and net profit since its founding, reflecting the fruits of our efforts as a global IT company. NHN will grow into a global top-tier tech company by expanding its proprietary technologies such as cloud and artificial intelligence (AI), and by exploring new business opportunities including blockchain technology cooperation."
Looking at sales by sector, the payment and advertising division recorded its highest quarterly sales of 208.4 billion KRW, a 23.4% increase compared to the previous year. NHN Korea Cyber Payment continuously secured overseas merchants, driving sales. PAYCO also led strong performance as transaction volume improved. The non-face-to-face ordering service ‘PAYCO Order’ saw order amounts grow 2.2 times compared to the previous year. In the case of Campus Zone, payment amounts increased 2.6 times year-on-year. An NHN official explained, "PAYCO showed profitability improvement and additional growth potential as the account recharge amount of ‘PAYCO Points’ increased more than fourfold compared to the same period last year."
In gaming, sales amounted to 95.5 billion KRW, a 10% increase from the previous quarter due to the Chuseok holiday and collaboration effects with popular intellectual properties (IPs). However, game sales decreased by 4.9% compared to the previous year. The commerce division recorded 76.9 billion KRW, a 4.1% increase year-on-year, driven by an increase in wholesale and retail users in the U.S. market.
In the technology sector, domestic cloud business expanded with public sector orders, generating sales of 57.2 billion KRW. This is an 82% increase compared to the previous year and marks the highest quarterly sales. The content division recorded sales of 43.8 billion KRW, with continuous improvement in NHN Comico’s sales but sluggish sports ticket sales at NHN Ticketlink. This represents a 3.2% increase year-on-year but a 4.6% decrease compared to the previous quarter.
"Leap to a Global Cloud Company"
NHN is particularly accelerating its cloud and business collaboration tool businesses. NHN has announced plans to launch a separate cloud corporation next year and expand global services in Southeast Asia and other regions. NHN’s cloud business continues its growth trend, with external sales more than doubling year-on-year. The cloud management (MSP) business recently received the highest rating from Amazon Web Services (AWS). NHN Doorey, an integrated enterprise collaboration service, has become a key business, being adopted by client Hyundai Development Company.
CEO Jung emphasized, "In the short term, we will lead the cloud transition projects in the domestic public sector and grow into a global MSP business with specialized capabilities. Ultimately, we aim to leap forward as a core global cloud company."
Additionally, the company stated plans to accelerate business growth through cooperation with leading domestic and international companies. Last month, NHN signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Wemade Tree to collaborate on blockchain technology. NHN plans to globally launch a game using non-fungible token (NFT) technology next year. NHN will also expand financial services through MyData services starting next month.
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