SEOUL, November 05 (AJP) - Kakao's third-quarter operating profit rose 7.4 percent from a year earlier, as advertising and shopping on its KakaoTalk messenger offset a slide in music and web content sales, the South Korean internet giant said Thursday.
According to regulatory filings, operating profit reached 240.3 billion won ($179.2 million) in the July to September quarter. The comparison is with a restated year earlier figure of 223.8 billion won.
Revenue rose 6.3 percent to 2.09 trillion won, and the operating margin was 11.5 percent.
Total net profit fell 7.9 percent to 177.7 billion won.
Platform revenue rose 16.5 percent to 1.24 trillion won. Talk Biz, which covers KakaoTalk advertising and commerce, grew 12.7 percent to 632.9 billion won. Display ads inside the messenger jumped 35 percent and business messaging rose 7 percent.
Transactions on Kakao's commerce services, including its Gift gifting service, rose 13 percent to 2.3 trillion won. Commerce revenue climbed 16 percent to 241.3 billion won.
The company said Gift posted its highest monthly transaction value ever in September, helped by Chuseok, Korea's harvest holiday. More shoppers also bought items for themselves.
Revenue from mobility, payments and other platform businesses rose 20.9 percent to 602.1 billion won.
Content revenue fell 5.6 percent to 851.7 billion won.
Music sales dropped 10.1 percent to 508.3 billion won because there were fewer album releases by major artists and fewer large concerts, the company said.
Story, its web novel and webtoon business, fell 16.9 percent.
Media revenue rose 49.1 percent to 142.8 billion won.
Operating expenses rose about 6 percent to 1.85 trillion won.
"Concentrating all our resources on quickly rolling out AI services that go beyond market expectations is what matters most," CEO Chung Shin-a said in a statement.
"We will expand AI services at a faster pace and meet shareholders' expectations through tangible business results and higher corporate value."
Kakao plans a pilot next month of Kanana Space, an AI assistant that users call up inside KakaoTalk, for people who signed up in advance.
Shares of Kakao traded at 31,700 won per stock at 9:13 a.m., 8.93 percent higher than the day before.
AJP Takeaways
- Kakao said on Nov. 5, 2026 that its third-quarter consolidated operating profit rose 7.4 percent from a year earlier to 240.3 billion won, on revenue of 2.09 trillion won.
- Platform revenue, led by KakaoTalk advertising and commerce, rose 16.5 percent to 1.24 trillion won, while content revenue fell 5.6 percent to 851.7 billion won on weaker music and story sales.
- The year-on-year figures exclude Kakao Games and Kakao Healthcare, which Kakao reclassified as discontinued operations in 2026; Kakao plans to pilot its AI assistant Kanana Space in December.
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