Naver reports revenue growth as AI costs trim operating profit

Naver said that second-quarter operating profit slipped 0.2 percent from a year earlier, as short-term spending on AI infrastructure and related capabilities rose despite growth in advertising, commerce and global C2C operations.

Operating profit was 520 billion won ($367 million), compared with 522 billion won ($368 million) a year earlier.

Revenue increased 16.2 percent to 3.39 trillion won ($2.39 billion) from 2.92 trillion won ($2.05 billion) a year earlier, while net income rose 41.6 percent to 704 billion won ($496 million) from 497 billion won ($351 million). Naver attributed revenue growth to solid performance in its advertising and commerce businesses, which have strengthened AI integration, and growth in its global C2C business.

Naver Platform revenue reached 1.9 trillion won ($1.34 billion), up 12.3 percent from a year earlier. The financial platform generated 471 billion won ($332 million), a 16.0 percent increase, while payment volume on Npay rose 21.0 percent from a year earlier to 25.2 trillion won ($17.8 billion).

Global revenue came to 1.02 trillion won ($716 million), up 24.4 percent from a year earlier, while C2C revenue climbed 74.9 percent from a year earlier to 398 billion won ($280 million).