(LEAD) Naver Q2 net income up 41.6 pct as AI boosts core biz

SEOUL, August 7 (Yonhap) -- Naver Corp., South Korea's leading online portal operator, reported a significant surge in its second-quarter net profit, driven by the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into its core businesses. The company's net profit for the April-June period reached 704.3 billion won (US$494.8 million), marking a robust 41.6 percent increase compared to the same period last year, as per Naver's regulatory filing.

Operating profit for the quarter stood at 520.3 billion won, reflecting a slight decline of 0.2 percent. However, revenue for the quarter saw a commendable rise of 16.2 percent to 3.38 trillion won. Naver attributed this robust quarterly performance to the expansion of its core businesses, particularly commerce and advertisements, which were further propelled by AI technology.

The global consumer-to-consumer platforms, such as Poshmark, also contributed to the earnings boost, while AI infrastructure investments led to a minor dip in operating profit.

Revenue from Naver's flagship search platform expanded by 12.3 percent year-on-year to 1.9 trillion won. The financial platform experienced a 16 percent year-on-year increase, reaching 470.7 billion won, largely due to the rapid growth of Naver Smart Store. Its global commerce platforms, including Poshmark and Wallapop, saw a notable 24.4 percent surge in sales, totaling 1.16 trillion won.

Sales at the contents division grew modestly by 0.5 percent, while those from Naver's enterprise business surged 21.3 percent year-on-year.

Looking ahead, Naver anticipates new revenues from its AI factory, jointly established with U.S. chip giant Nvidia, expected to commence operations in the early half of next year. Naver's CEO, Choi Soo-yeon, expressed optimism about leveraging Nvidia's ecosystem and existing corporate and public clients in the AI computing market.