Naver recorded a 30% increase in operating profit in the fourth quarter of last year, thanks to growth in its key business sectors such as the search platform and commerce. As a result, it became the first among domestic Internet corporations to achieve annual sales of 10 trillion won.
On the 7th, Naver announced that it recorded a consolidated revenue of 28.856 trillion won and an operating profit of 542 billion won in the fourth quarter of last year. This represents increases of 13.7% and 33.7%, respectively, compared to the same period last year. On an annual basis, the company recorded 107.377 trillion won in revenue and 19.793 trillion won in operating profit last year, marking increases of 11% and 32.9%, respectively.
In the fourth quarter, the consolidated revenue reached 28.856 trillion won, growing by 13.7% year-on-year and 6.3% quarter-on-quarter, driven by the growth of key business sectors such as the search platform and commerce. The adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter grew for the ninth consecutive quarter, recording 745.9 billion won, an increase of 28.6% year-on-year and 6.7% quarter-on-quarter. Additionally, the consolidated operating profit also grew for the eighth consecutive quarter, reaching 542 billion won, which is a growth of 33.7% year-on-year and 3.2% quarter-on-quarter, while the operating profit margin improved by 2.8 percentage points to 18.8% compared to the same period last year.
Fourth-quarter revenue by institutional sector amounted to 10.647 trillion won for the search platform, 775.1 billion won for commerce, 400.9 billion won for fintech, 467.3 billion won for content, and 177.6 billion won for cloud. The search platform recorded 10.647 trillion won, reflecting a growth of 14.7% year-on-year and 6.7% quarter-on-quarter due to continuous strengthening of platform competitiveness and optimization of advertising efficiency. The annual revenue for the search platform grew 9.9% year-on-year to 39.462 trillion won, and Naver plans to further enhance platform competitiveness by improving advertising efficiency and expanding outside media.
Commerce achieved 775.1 billion won, reflecting a growth of 17.4% year-on-year and 6.9% quarter-on-quarter, driven by enhancements in shopping experience due to the launch of the Naver Plus Store in October, increased user benefits from membership partnerships, and improvements in commerce advertising efficiency and profitability. Consequently, total transactions in the fourth quarter reached 13.2 trillion won, and the annual revenue for the commerce sector recorded 2.923 trillion won, a 14.8% increase from the previous year.
Fintech recorded 400.9 billion won, showing growth of 12.6% year-on-year and 4.1% quarter-on-quarter, due to the sustained growth of Smart Store and the increase in external payment amounts. Fourth-quarter payments reached 19.3 trillion won, an 18.3% increase year-on-year and a 3.7% increase quarter-on-quarter. The annual revenue for the fintech sector reached 1.5084 trillion won, growing by 11.3% compared to the previous year.
Content revenue reached 467.3 billion won, marking growth of 0.2% year-on-year and 1.0% quarter-on-quarter, supported by the expansion of paid subscribers for the camera app linked to webtoon artificial intelligence (AI) content, despite the exclusion of Naver Jet. The annual revenue for the content sector grew 3.7% year-on-year to 1.7964 trillion won.
Cloud revenue reached 177.6 billion won, with a growth of 41.1% year-on-year and 22.8% quarter-on-quarter, driven by the expansion of paid IDs for NeuroCloud and Line Works, as well as the continued revenue generation from Saudi Arabia's digital twin business. The annual revenue for the cloud sector grew 26.1% year-on-year to 563.7 billion won.
Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon noted, "This year will be a crucial time for implementing the on-service AI strategy across all Naver services, where we will enhance the platform based on AI technology, creating new value and business opportunities, ultimately strengthening Naver's unique competitive edge." He added, "In commerce, we will expand the searching-centered shopping experience into a personalized exploration with the new Naver Plus Store app to be launched in the first half of the year, providing a more intuitive and robust shopping experience."