By Kwanwoo Jun


Naver Corp.'s third-quarter net profit fell 28% from a year earlier despite steady revenue growth, dragged down by sluggish online advertising sales and increased operating costs to expand new businesses.

Net profit for the quarter ended in September was 231.60 billion won ($165.0 million) compared with net profit of KRW322.70 billion in the same quarter a year earlier, the South Korean internet platform giant said Monday.

That missed a FactSet-compiled consensus forecast for net profit of KRW298.89 billion.

Revenue rose 19% from a year earlier to KRW2.057 trillion, while operating profit fell 5.6% to KRW330.20 billion.

The company maintained steady revenue growth at its e-commerce, fintech and paid-content businesses, but sluggish sales of its search-platform and online display ads weighed on earnings.

Increased labor and other operating costs from the acquiring and expanding of businesses also dented earnings, as the company continued seeking out new growth engines.

Naver recently acquired U.S. online-fashion reseller Poshmark Inc. for more than $1 billion to expand its global e-commerce business.


Write to Kwanwoo Jun at kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

11-06-22 1919ET