(LEAD) Naver's Q2 net triples on surge in pandemic-driven online shopping

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By Kim Han-joo

SEOUL, July 30 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's top internet portal operator Naver Corp. said Thursday its net profit more than tripled in the second quarter from a year earlier largely due to increased online shopping transactions on its platform amid the new coronavirus pandemic.

Net profit reached 90.7 billion won (US$76 million) in the April-June period, compared with a profit of 27.8 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a press release.

Operating income reached 230.6 billion won during the cited period, marking an increase of 79.7 percent from the year before. Sales totaled 1.9 trillion won, representing a 16.7 percent increase from a year earlier, Naver said.

Revenue from its business platform increased 8.8 percent on-year to 772.7 billion won in the second quarter on the back of increased online shopping as more people refrained from going outside amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Naver said revenue from its platform business, including messenger Line, surged 16.7 percent on-year to 690.8 billion won during the same period.

Revenue from its advertisement business was up 4.9 percent on-year to 174.7 billion won in the second quarter.

Sales from its IT platform business, which covers Naver Pay and cloud computing services, also jumped 70.2 percent on-year to 170.2 billion won as more people used Naver's payment system for their shopping.

Content sales advanced 58.9 percent on-year during the cited period to 79.6 billion won due to the increased revenues from its webtoons and an increase in global users, it said.

khj@yna.co.kr
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