Naver continued its revenue growth in the third quarter of this year, focusing on expanding its artificial intelligence (AI) factory and AI agents. The company plans to launch a personal AI agent by the end of the year while accelerating overall business growth through enhanced advertising and commerce services, as well as improved logistics capabilities.
Naver announced on November 12 that its consolidated revenue for the third quarter reached 3.47 trillion won, with an operating profit of 451.3 billion won. Compared to the same period last year, revenue increased by 10.7%, while operating profit decreased by 20.9%. The net profit for the period was 402.5 billion won, down 45.2%.
Revenue by business segment included 1.95 trillion won from the Naver platform, 487.7 billion won from the financial platform, and 1.03 trillion won from global ventures, reflecting increases of 7.3%, 14.1%, and 15.9%, respectively, compared to the previous year.
The decline in operating profit was attributed to increased depreciation costs from infrastructure investments and higher marketing expenses in the commerce and offline payment sectors. Infrastructure costs rose by 29.1%, while marketing expenses increased by 32.3% compared to the same period last year.
During the earnings conference call, Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon stated, "We have secured customers for initial volumes in 2027 by signing a supply contract worth approximately 2 trillion won for computing services, including next-generation graphics processing units (GPUs), with a U.S. AI inference company."
This contract involves approximately 20 megawatts (MW) of computing services to be supplied over four to five years. Naver plans to begin commercial services in the first half of next year and is currently negotiating additional supply contracts with more than ten global AI companies, raising expectations for future profitability. The company anticipates that it will start generating operating profit from its AI factory business in 2027.
Naver is also expanding its AI service offerings. The company plans to launch a personal AI agent app by the end of the year, connecting its services such as search, shopping, places, reservations, maps, and payments.
Since the official launch of the AI tab service in the first half of this year, there has been an increase in repeat visits and continuous conversations. The transition from the AI tab to shopping and local services has doubled compared to the initial launch period.
In its advertising business, Naver plans to expand the application of AI predictive models. In the third quarter, the click-through rate for Powerlink ads improved by 12%, and conversions increased by 9%. Naver intends to revamp its advertising system next year and pilot a model that charges advertising fees based on actual transaction performance in sectors such as finance, insurance, and automotive.
In the commerce sector, Naver is enhancing its Naver Plus Store app and AI recommendation features. The transaction volume for smart stores increased by 6.4% compared to the same period last year. The transaction volume through the Naver Plus Store app surpassed 20%, with AI recommendations contributing to over a 50% increase in transaction volume.
Naver is also investing to strengthen its delivery capabilities. The company plans to establish a logistics subsidiary and invest approximately 1 trillion won by 2030 to expand its delivery infrastructure centered around leased logistics centers. In the third quarter, the transaction volume for N delivery increased by 38% compared to the previous year, and the number of early morning delivery centers expanded from three to nine in the first half of the year.
Naver Pay is targeting the offline payment market. In the third quarter, payment volume reached 26.2 trillion won, a 15.6% increase from the previous year. Naver aims to become the market leader in offline integrated payment devices by expanding the distribution of its 'N Pay Connect' terminals in the first half of next year.
Internationally, Naver is expanding its mapping and robotics services based on its digital twin project in Saudi Arabia. Last month, it launched the beta service for its map-based super app 'Baladi Plus' and plans to introduce outdoor delivery robot services in Riyadh in the first half of next year.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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