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Kakao announced record-high quarterly revenue and operating profit for the second quarter of this year, driven by the steady growth of platform businesses such as advertising, commerce, mobility, and pay.
Kakao stated on August 6 that its consolidated revenue for the second quarter of this year rose 9.4% year-on-year to 2.0985 trillion won.
Operating profit increased by 35.9% from a year earlier to 277 billion won.
Both revenue and operating profit marked the highest figures ever for a single quarter.
The performance figures and growth rates compared to the same period last year were calculated based on reflecting the profits and losses related to Kakao Games and Kakao Healthcare as discontinued operations.
In the second quarter of last year, revenue stood at 1.9175 trillion won and operating profit at 203.9 billion won.
Breaking down performance by business division, revenue from Kakao's platform segment increased by 17% year-on-year to 1.2303 trillion won.
Within the platform segment, Talk Biz revenue grew 12% to 643.2 billion won.
Talk Biz advertising and subscription revenue expanded 14% to 399.9 billion won.
Backed by steady demand from financial sector advertisers, business message revenue increased by 20%, while display ad revenue utilizing KakaoTalk interfaces also grew 28% due to expanded user engagement.
Total transaction volume for Talk Biz commerce, including Gift (Gifticon) and Talk Deal, expanded 9% to 2.7 trillion won in the second quarter.
In particular, self-purchase transaction volume—where users purchase items for themselves in the gifting service—led the growth by surging 39%.
Talk Biz commerce revenue increased by 10% to 243.2 billion won.
Other platform revenue, which includes mobility and pay, rose 22% from a year earlier to 587 billion won.
Kakao Mobility showed growth in both its existing business and last-mile logistics operations.
Kakao Pay achieved record-high quarterly revenue and operating profit as payment and platform services maintained double-digit growth rates alongside a sharp increase in financial revenue.
Content segment revenue edged up 1% year-on-year to 868.2 billion won.
Music revenue rose 8% to 558.4 billion won, driven by the expansion of major intellectual property (IP) performances.
Media revenue was tallied at 99.1 billion won, up 5% due to an increase in the number of production projects underway, while story revenue recorded 210.7 billion won.
Kakao explained that major businesses such as advertising, commerce, mobility, and pay grew evenly based on its platform competitiveness.
Kakao assessed that building on the stable growth and profitability of its existing platform business, it has also secured a financial foundation to invest efficiently in artificial intelligence.
Kakao plans to sequentially introduce agentic AI experiences within KakaoTalk that complete everyday actions such as ordering, reservation, and payment, aiming to materialize this as a new axis of growth and monetization to lead to sustainable growth and enhanced corporate value.
"Competitiveness in the era of agentic AI lies in understanding the context and intent of users and connecting them to actual actions," emphasized Kakao CEO Chung Shin-a. "Based on KakaoTalk as a daily user touchpoint and the technology and service ecosystem we have accumulated so far, we will accelerate the era where all citizens naturally utilize their own AI agents."
(Photo provided by Kakao, Yonhap News)
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