(LEAD) NHN Q3 net income down 51.9 pct to 21.4 bln won on operating costs

(ATTN: RECASTS with more details throughout; ADDS image)

SEOUL, Nov. 8 (Yonhap) -- NHN Corp. on Tuesday reported its third-quarter net profit of 21.4 billion won (US$15.3 million), down 51.9 percent from a year earlier due to increased operating costs.

The company said in a regulatory filing that it posted 8.3 billion won in operating profit for the quarter, compared with 27.9 billion won a year ago. Sales rose 10.6 percent to 522.4 billion won.

The earnings exceeded market expectations. The average estimate of net profit by analysts stood at 5.8 billion won, according to a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency.

NHN attributed the net profit loss to increased labor costs and marketing expenses, which rose 14.9 percent and 87.5 percent on-year over the three months ending in September, respectively.

The company said, however, its revenues posted a modest growth in the July-September period thanks to steady sales in its flagship businesses, like advertisement and games.

Sales in advertisement and payment services climbed 8.9 percent on-year to 227 billion won.

In particular, the volume of transactions over Payco Order, the company's digital payment service, reached 2.5 trillion won, up 29 percent from a year earlier.

Revenue in games jumped 21.4 percent on-year to 115.9 billion won, led by a 30.1 percent on-year growth in mobile games.

The company also said sales from its IT services, such as cloud service, grew 24.5 percent to 71.3 billion won.

NHN said it will release its new mobile games, including "Darkest Days," next year as part of its strategy to expand its game developing business.

brk@yna.co.kr
(END)