Kakao achieves record Q2 revenue

[Photo by Yonhap]

Kakao announced on Thursday that it achieved its highest-ever second-quarter revenue and double-digit operating profit growth, thanks to strong performances in its platform and Talk Biz segments. According to its regulatory filing on Thursday, Kakao’s consolidated operating profit for the 2024 April to June period increased by 18.5 percent year-over-year to 134 billion won ($97.2 million). Net profit surged nearly 60 percent to 87.1 billion won, and revenue grew 4 percent to a record 2.04 trillion won for the quarter.

Platform revenue rose 10 percent on-year to 955.3 billion won. Talk Biz, which includes KakaoTalk-related businesses, saw a 7 percent increase in revenue to 513.9 billion won, maintaining its growth trajectory despite competition from Chinese e-commerce platforms like AliExpress.

Within Talk Biz, advertising revenue from Bizboard and KakaoTalk Channel grew 9 percent on-year to 307.3 billion won, while transaction-based revenue from services like Gift and Talk Store increased 5 percent to 206.6 billion won. Other platform revenue, including Kakao Mobility and Kakao Pay, rose 18 percent to 353.5 billion won. However, portal business revenue declined 2 percent to 87.9 billion won.

Kakao’s content segment revenue decreased slightly by 0.4 percent to 1.04 trillion won. Music revenue grew 6 percent on-year to 510.9 billion won, driven by strong sales of new releases from popular idol groups like IVE, RIIZE, and aespa. In contrast, revenue from the story segment, which includes webtoons and web novels, fell 7 percent to 215.7 billion won due to increased competition in the Japanese webtoon market. Media revenue, including video production, increased 22 percent to 89.6 billion won.

Pearl Abyss CI

Meanwhile, Kosdaq-listed game company Pearl Abyss announced on Thursday that its consolidated operating loss for the second quarter of 2024 narrowed to 5.8 billion won, compared to 14.1 billion won in the same period during the previous year. Revenue grew by 4.3 percent on-year to 81.8 billion won, while net profit returned to the black at 9.1 billion won. By major IP, “Black Desert” generated 60 billion won in revenue, and “EVE” accounted for 21.6 billion won. Geographically, North America and Europe contributed the most revenue at 56 percent, followed by Asia at 26 percent and Korea at 18 percent. Platform-wise, PC accounted for 75 percent, mobile for 21 percent, and console for 4 percent of the revenue. Operating expenses totaled 87.6 billion won, down 5.3 percent from a year ago, but up 3.2 percent from the previous quarter.

For its part, Kospi-listed Kepco Engineering & Construction reported that its consolidated operating profit for the second quarter of 2024 increased by 18 percent on-year to 13.2 billion won. Revenue grew 6 percent to 127.2 billion won, while net profit surged 44.1 percent to 16.8 billion won.