(LEAD) NCSOFT Q2 net down 40 pct on increased costs

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By Kim Han-joo

SEOUL, Aug. 11 (Yonhap) -- NCSOFT Corp., a major South Korean online and mobile game developer, said Wednesday that its net profit fell 40.4 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier due to increased costs.

Net profit stood at 94.3 billion won (US$81.6 million) during the April-June period, compared with 158.4 billion won a year earlier, NCSOFT said in a regulatory filing.

Sales were unchanged at 538.5 billion won over the cited period, and operating income came to 112.8 billion won in the April-June period, compared with 209 billion won a year ago.

Its increased spending on marketing and personnel expenses dragged down the bottom line for the cited period, according to NCSOFT.

NCSOFT's sales in South Korea came to 355.9 billion won in the period, and those from North America and Europe stood at a combined 24.3 billion won.

Sales from Lineage 2M reached 218 billion won in the second quarter, taking up a large portion of its total mobile game sales.

The popularity of Lineage 2M resulted in an on-year sales increase of 552 percent and 161 percent in Taiwan and Japan, respectively, NCSOFT said.

khj@yna.co.kr
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