South Korean internet giant Naver Corp. posted a 48.8% jump in fourth-quarter profit as its core search business and cloud services delivered strong growth despite increased spending on marketing.
Net income rose to 444.1 billion won ($338 million) in the three months ended December, while revenue climbed 13.7% to 2.89 trillion won. The company’s operating profit increased 33.7% to 542 billion won, according to its earnings statement.
Naver’s search platform revenue grew 14.7% year-over-year, boosted by improvements in advertising products and expansion into external platforms. The cloud division saw revenue surge 41.1%, driven by its Neurocloud service and increased paid subscriptions for Line Works.
Marketing expenses jumped 25.6% as the company ramped up spending across its commerce, fintech and content businesses. The tech firm’s commerce division posted 17.4% revenue growth, while fintech sales rose 12.6%.
The company completed a 405.1 billion won share buyback in November and plans to pay a dividend of 1,130 won per share in April, representing 20% of its two-year average free cash flow.
For the full year 2024, Naver reported an 89% increase in net profit to 1.86 trillion won on revenue of 10.74 trillion won.
