Naver Q4 Profit Surges 48.8% on Search, Commerce Growth

Seoul, South Korea—Naver (035420). KS) reported that fourth-quarter revenue rose 13.7% to KRW2.89 trillion (US$2 billion), driven by growth in search platform and commerce segments and one-time settlement gains.

Operating profit increased 33.7% year-on-year to KRW542 billion (US$374.8 million) in the quarter, marking eight consecutive quarters of growth. 

The operating margin improved by 2.8 percentage points to 18.8%.

Net profit jumped 48.8% from a year earlier to KRW444.1 billion (US$307.1 million), declining 16.2% from the previous quarter.

Search platform revenue grew 14.7% to KRW1.06 trillion (US$732.9 million), supported by improved placement advertising and expanded external media partnerships. 

Display advertising rose 9.7%, while search advertising increased 11%.

Commerce revenue climbed 17.4% to KRW775.1 billion (US$536 million), with gross merchandise value reaching KRW13.2 trillion (US$9.1 billion). 

The segment benefited from the October launch of Plus Store and enhanced membership benefits.

Fintech revenue increased 12.6% to KRW400.9 billion (US$277.2 million), with total payment volume rising 18.3% to KRW19.3 trillion (US$13.3 billion), driven by continued growth in Smartstore and external payments.

Content revenue increased by 0.2% to KRW467.3 billion (US$323.1 million). 

While webtoon revenue grew 6.8%, Snow-related revenue declined 47.8% due to the deconsolidation of Naver Z.

Cloud revenue showed the most substantial growth, rising 41.1% to KRW177.6 billion (US$122.8 million), though this drops to 17% if one-time settlement effects are excluded. 

B2B cloud services revenue grew 11.2% to KRW126.9 billion (US$87.7 million), supported by continued revenue from Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Housing's digital twin projects.

For 2024, Naver became the first Korean internet platform to exceed KRW10 trillion in annual revenue, posting an 11% increase to KRW10.74 trillion (US$7.4 billion). Annual operating profit rose 32.9% to KRW1.98 trillion (US$1.4 billion).

Adjusted EBITDA grew 28.6% year-on-year to KRW745.9 billion (US$515.8 million) in the fourth quarter, marking nine consecutive quarters of growth.

* US$1=KRW1,446.18