Naver’s profit soars in fourth quarter

SEOUL

South Korea's tech giant Naver on Feb. 2 posted a 129 percent surge in the fourth quarter net profit, fuelled by the strong performance of its fintech and commerce businesses.

One of South Korea's biggest tech companies, Naver's myriad services - including Google-like maps, financial services similar to Apple Pay, and popular blogs and chat forums - are used daily by many Koreans.

In 2022, the company paid roughly $1.2 billion for Poshmark, a U.S. online marketplace for used clothing.

Net profit came to 301.8 billion won ($227.4 million) in October-December, compared with 131.8 billion won the previous year, the firm said in a statement.

Sales for the same period rose 11.7 percent on-year to 2.54 trillion won, while its operating profit for the quarter was up 20.5 percent at 405.5 billion won, it added.

For the whole of 2023, Naver's net profit amounted to 988.4 billion won, an increase of 46.8 percent from the year before.

The firm said its commerce business was boosted by its social commerce platforms, including Poshmark and Kream, a luxury resale platform.

Its content business, on the other hand, was fuelled by the growth of webtoons - Internet-based comic strips - and robust sales of AI-based products on its camera and photo app Snow.

For 2024, "Naver will focus its capabilities on strengthening the competitiveness of core businesses such as search and commerce based on AI and data", CEO Choi Soo-yeon said.

Last year, North Korea created a fake version of Naver as part of a sophisticated phishing attack designed to harvest personal information, according to Seoul's spy agency.