Revenue Up 10.3% Year-on-Year to 2.7868 Trillion Won
Search Platform Sees Ad Revenue Growth with AI Optimization
Commerce Boosted by Naver Plus Store... Transaction Volume Up 10%
Naver reported strong earnings as its key business sectors, including advertising and commerce, continued to grow. On May 9, Naver announced in a regulatory filing that its consolidated operating profit for the first quarter of this year was provisionally tallied at 505.3 billion won, up 15% from the same period last year. Revenue for the same period rose 10.3% to 2.7868 trillion won.
Sales from the search platform (search) segment increased by 11.9% year-on-year to 1.0127 trillion won, driven by improvements in advertising products and enhanced targeting. Naver attributed the growth in advertising revenue to the use of artificial intelligence (AI).
The commerce segment posted revenue of 787.9 billion won, up 12% from the same period last year. The company benefited from the launch of Naver Plus Store, the revamp of its fast delivery service "N Delivery," and enhanced benefits for Naver Plus Membership. The total transaction volume in the commerce segment for the first quarter of this year rose 10.1% year-on-year, as transaction volumes in Smart Store and services increased. In particular, commerce advertising revenue reached an all-time high, thanks to the launch of Naver Plus Store, page optimization, and advanced recommendation advertising.
The fintech segment recorded revenue of 392.7 billion won, marking an 11% increase from the same period last year. Naver Pay's payment volume for the first quarter rose 17.4% year-on-year to 19.6 trillion won, driven by the growth of Smart Store and the expansion of the external ecosystem.
The content segment, which includes Webtoon and Snow, reported first-quarter revenue of 459.3 billion won, up 2.9% from a year earlier. The enterprise segment (formerly the cloud segment) posted revenue of 134.2 billion won, a 14.7% increase year-on-year, due to the expansion of paid IDs for the business collaboration tool "Line Works."
Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon said, "Naver is securing unrivaled platform competitiveness based on an ecosystem that AI cannot replace, by connecting Naver's unique content and data not only to search, but also to discovery, exploration, shopping, and places." She added, "We will continue to strengthen our capabilities through the advancement of user experience and gradual changes in service and advertising technology."
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