NHN Turns to Profit with 27.6 Billion Won Operating Income in Q3... Balanced Growth in Games and Payments

Game Segment Sees 5.1% Revenue Growth Driven by Mobile Games
Payment Segment Achieves Record Quarterly Sales Thanks to Consumption Coupons

NHN has successfully returned to profitability, driven by balanced growth across its major business sectors and efforts to streamline its business structure.

On November 10, NHN announced that its consolidated operating profit for the third quarter of this year reached 27.6 billion won, marking a turnaround from a loss in the same period last year. During the same period, revenue increased by 2.8% year-on-year to 625.6 billion won, while net profit reached 18 billion won, also returning to the black.

NHN Headquarters Play Museum. Provided by NHN

Breaking down third-quarter revenue by segment, the game division posted 118.3 billion won, up 5.1% year-on-year and 2.9% quarter-on-quarter. The growth in the game segment was largely driven by a robust 11.7% year-on-year increase in mobile game revenue. "Hangame Royal Holdem" (formerly "Hangame Double A Poker") achieved its highest quarterly sales since its 2023 launch, thanks to the brand renewal effect and an increase in new users from offline Holdem tournaments.

The payment segment recorded 327.3 billion won in revenue, up 15.5% year-on-year and 5.8% quarter-on-quarter. NHN KCP, the payment company, achieved its highest-ever quarterly sales, as transaction volumes from major overseas merchants increased and government-issued consumption coupons boosted domestic offline business revenue. The transaction volume of Payco's core business, the corporate welfare solution, rose by 31% year-on-year.

The technology segment generated 111.8 billion won in revenue, up 8.8% year-on-year and 7% quarter-on-quarter. NHN Cloud saw its third-quarter revenue grow by 12% year-on-year, driven by increased sales from government-led public sector and artificial intelligence (AI) projects, as well as higher usage of its integrated messaging platform, "Notification."

The other segment posted 89.6 billion won in revenue, down 31.4% year-on-year and 7.1% quarter-on-quarter, due to the termination of services by certain subsidiaries and management efficiency measures. NHN Link, which operates Ticketlink, saw a 14% year-on-year increase in revenue as ticket sales for sports and performances grew across the board.

NHN plans to focus on ensuring the successful market entry of new game titles scheduled for release next year. The mobile action battle game "Dissidia Duelum Final Fantasy," currently in development, is undergoing a closed beta test (CBT) for up to 40,000 participants in Japan and North America over an eight-day period starting November 7. The title aims for an official global launch, including Japan, in the first half of next year.

NHN Payco achieved its first-ever quarterly profit by restructuring its business model and improving cost efficiency. Currently, KCP and Payco have formed a joint task force to advance their stablecoin business, working to refine their business cooperation framework and technology model.

NHN Cloud was selected as the largest contractor for the GPU procurement, construction, and operation support project in July, and is accelerating the build-out of state-of-the-art GPU infrastructure, including NVIDIA Blackwell B200, with the goal of full-scale operation in the first quarter of next year.

Jung Woojin, CEO of NHN, stated, "In the third quarter, our core businesses-games, payments, and technology-all saw balanced revenue growth, continuing our upward trajectory. Our proactive efforts to streamline our business structure have stabilized our profit-generating capacity. We will strive to exceed expectations with our upcoming game releases, actively participate in future government AI projects, and focus on strengthening our competitiveness in new businesses such as stablecoins, thereby laying the foundation for sustained growth."