Naver's third quarter sales of KRW 3.4724 trillion, 'highest ever'... Operating profit 20.9%↓ (comprehensive)

Naver recorded its highest ever quarterly sales in the third quarter of this year, thanks to the growth of its commerce, payment, and global peer-to-peer (C2C) businesses.

As investments to secure artificial intelligence (AI) competitiveness increased, operating profit decreased by more than 20%.

Naver announced on the 12th that its consolidated third quarter sales were KRW 3.4724 trillion, up 10.7% from the same period last year.

It exceeded the highest sales record (KRW 3.3888 trillion) set in the previous quarter by approximately 2.5%.

Operating profit decreased by 20.9% to 451.3 billion won.

Naver explained that this was due to increased investment in AI infrastructure, content, and offline data.

By business sector, Naver Platform sales increased 7.3% to KRW 1.9484 trillion.

Advertising sales increased and purchases expanded mainly through the Naver Plus Store and membership.

To increase its delivery competitiveness, Naver plans to establish a logistics subsidiary and gradually expand its delivery infrastructure, focusing on leased logistics centers.

Financial platform sales increased 14.1% to 487.7 billion won.

Naver Pay payment amount recorded 26.2 trillion won, up 15.6% thanks to the increase in external payments.

Sales in the global challenge division increased by 15.9% to KRW 1.0364 trillion.

In addition to the effect of Wallapop's incorporation and the increase in transactions of Poshmark and Soda, corporate business such as Saudi Arabia's digital twin business also grew.

Naver predicts that sales from the AI ​​factory business it is pursuing with Brookfield and Nvidia will be reflected in its performance starting in the first half of next year.

Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon said, "Regarding the AI ​​Factory business, we have secured initial customers by signing a contract to supply computing services worth approximately 2 trillion won. Sales from the AI ​​Factory business are also expected to occur sequentially."

He continued, “We plan to pursue mid- to long-term contracts with large customers while expanding our customer base to global AI companies with high growth potential to secure not only stability but also high profitability.”

Naver will also introduce an AI agent app within the year.

Following AI Briefing and AI Tab, the strategy is to expand the service so that users can actually purchase and visit recommended products or places.

CEO Choi emphasized, "Personal AI agents will continue the evolution of existing search by providing new usability that allows users to go beyond directly finding the information they need, taking care of necessary tasks in advance or performing cumbersome tasks on their behalf. At the same time, we will secure a new user base and create monetization opportunities."