Kakao Pay Reports Strong FY 2022 Performance, Outlines Expansion Plans.

KakaoPay(KRX: 377300) has reported its Q4 2022 earnings.

The company’s full-year transaction volume rose 19% year-on-year to KRW 118 trillion.

Transaction value contributing to revenue (Revenue TPV) increased 26% to KRW 34 trillion, representing 29% of the total transaction value.

Consolidated revenue for the year grew 14% to KRW 521.7 billion, with payment services revenue up 27%.

Despite full-year EBITDA of KRW 22.4 billion, the company’s net profit increased to KRW 27.5 billion due to higher financial income from retained cash management.

The company achieved an operating margin of 6.9% on a full-year basis, marking the first time the company achieved a positive result.

KakaoPay’s Q4 2022 revenue increased 17% year-on-year to KRW 30.9 trillion.

This growth was driven by increases in online, offline, cross-border, and daily payments, despite the impact of a fire at the IDC Center in Pangyo in October/November 2022.

The number of registered and monthly active users also grew steadily, reaching 39.44 million registered users and 23.02 million monthly active users at the end of 2022.

The number of transactions per user increased by 7% year-on-year, and the monthly transaction value increased by 9.5% year-on-year to KRW 447,000.

KakaoPay’s Q4 2022 revenue decreased by 3.6% year-on-year and 13% quarter-on-quarter to KRW 122.9 billion.

Despite a temporary decline in revenue in October and November due to the fire, payment segment revenue recovered in December and grew by 4.4% quarter-on-quarter.

Financial Services revenue decreased 52.3% year-over-year and 58.0% quarter-over-quarter.

Operating expenses decreased 7.1% year-on-year and 3.9% quarter-on-quarter to KRW 145.1 billion in Q4, resulting in a consolidated operating loss of KRW 22.3 billion and EBITDA of KRW -15.7 billion.

Net income for the quarter was KRW 34.1 billion due to higher financial income from cash on hand.

KakaoPay is expanding its global offline payment locations and plans to open new countries and expand existing sites by 2023.

KakaoPay Securities, a subsidiary, recently launched a stock discussion room with unique features, resulting in increased user participation and growth in overseas stock contracts, average monthly transactions, and activity from MTS.

This year, KakaoPay plans to improve its services, expand its core usage, and prove its profitability and growth.

The company will strengthen its advertising business and explore data-related business opportunities.