Kakao's First-Quarter Net Profit Surged on One-Off Income

By Kwanwoo Jun

Kakao Corp.'s first-quarter net profit surged on a one-off income from disposing of a partial investment stake in a Korean cryptocurrency exchange operator.

Net profit for the quarter ended in March was 1.321 trillion won ($1.05 billion), compared with net profit of KRW239.87 billion in the same quarter a year earlier, the South Korean internet group said Wednesday.

That beat a FactSet-compiled consensus forecast for net profit of KRW192.38 billion for the quarter.

Kakao attributed the quarterly net-profit surge to massive gains from selling a part of its stake in Dunamu, which operates the fast-growing Upbit cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea.

Kakao's revenue during the quarter rose 31% on year to KRW1.652 trillion, while operating profit gained 0.7% on year to KRW158.66 billion.

Both platform and paid-content businesses posted solid growth on brisk demand for online advertisement and games, which helped the company maintain a steady operating profit growth despite rising labor and marketing costs.

Write to Kwanwoo Jun at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

05-03-22 2045ET