Kakao achieved its highest quarterly performance to date in the second quarter of this year. The company's revenue and operating profit reached record levels, driven by balanced growth in advertising, commerce, and its payment business.
Kakao announced on August 6 that its consolidated revenue for the second quarter was 2.0985 trillion won, with an operating profit of 277 billion won. This represents a 9% increase in revenue and a 36% increase in operating profit compared to the same period last year. Both figures are the highest ever recorded for a quarter.
The platform segment generated revenue of 1.2303 trillion won, a 17% increase year-on-year. Within this, revenue from Talk Business, which includes KakaoTalk-based advertising and commerce, rose by 12% to 643.2 billion won.
Advertising and subscription revenue reached 399.9 billion won, up 14% from the previous year. The commerce sector continued its growth, particularly in gift-giving and Talk Deals, with transaction volume in the second quarter increasing by 9% year-on-year to approximately 2.7 trillion won. The self-purchase transaction volume for gift-giving surged by 39%.
Revenue from other platform services, including mobility and payments, totaled 587 billion won, marking a 22% increase from the same period last year. Mobility growth was driven by existing services and last-mile logistics, while the payment sector achieved record revenue and operating profit for the quarter, supported by expanded financial services and double-digit growth in payment and platform services.
The content segment reported revenue of 868.2 billion won, a 1% increase. The music sector grew by 8% to 558.4 billion won, aided by the expansion of major intellectual property performances, while the media sector saw a 5% increase to 99.1 billion won due to an increase in produced works. The story segment generated 210.7 billion won.
Profitability also improved, with the operating profit margin rising by approximately 3 percentage points to 13% compared to the same period last year. Operating expenses increased by 6% year-on-year to 1.8214 trillion won.
Jeong Shin-a, CEO of Kakao, stated, "The competitiveness in the era of agentic AI lies not just in the excellence of the model itself, but in understanding the user's context and intentions and connecting them to actual actions. We will create an environment where anyone can naturally utilize AI agents based on KakaoTalk and our accumulated service ecosystem."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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