Naver continued double-digit improvement in the fourth quarter last year, driven by growth in key businesses including advertising, commerce and Fintech. On an annual basis, revenue topped 12 trillion won for the first time, extending its growth trend.
◇ Record quarterly results... commerce revenue alone reached 1.054 trillion won in the fourth quarter
Naver said it posted 3.1951 trillion won in revenue and 610.6 billion won in operating profit on a consolidation basis in the fourth quarter last year. Compared with a year earlier, revenue rose 10.7% and operating profit increased 12.7%. Both revenue and operating profit were the highest ever on a quarterly basis.
By business in the fourth quarter, revenue was 1.0596 trillion won for the search platform, 1.054 trillion won for commerce, 453.1 billion won for Fintech, 456.7 billion won for content, and 171.8 billion won for cloud. As the commerce business grew rapidly, it narrowed the gap with the core search platform business to 5.6 billion won. Commerce accounted for as much as 33% of total revenue.
Naver platform ads grew 6.7% from a year earlier, helped by AI placement optimization and the advancement of personalized services such as Feed and Clip. Search platform revenue fell 0.5% from a year earlier, but excluding the effect of last year's settlement, it increased 1.8% to 1.0596 trillion won.
Commerce jumped 36.0% from a year earlier to 1.054 trillion won on the back of growth in Smart Store and the global C2C business. Fintech rose 13.0% to 453.1 billion won, helped by Smart Store momentum and expansion of the external ecosystem, and the fourth-quarter transaction amount was 23 trillion won, up 19.0% from a year earlier.
Content revenue was 456.7 billion won, down 2.3% from a year earlier. Enterprise fell 3.2% from a year earlier, but excluding the effect of last year's settlement, it grew 16.6% to 171.8 billion won.
◇ First 12 trillion won in annual revenue, first 2 trillion won in annual operating profit
On an annual basis, revenue came to 12.035 trillion won and operating profit to 2.2081 trillion won. Compared with a year earlier, revenue rose 12.1% and operating profit increased 11.6%. These are the best results since Naver was founded. Annual revenue topped 12 trillion won for the first time, and annual operating profit reached the 2 trillion won level for the first time.
By business annually, the search platform posted 4.1689 trillion won, commerce 3.6884 trillion won, Fintech 1.6907 trillion won, content 1.8992 trillion won and enterprise 587.8 billion won. Commerce grew 26.2% from a year earlier, and annual Smart Store transaction amount also increased 10%. Enterprise grew 4.3% on the back of new GPUaaS revenue and expansion of global revenue from the Saudi super app and digital twin.
Choi Soo-yeon, Naver's CEO, said, "Last year was a year when Naver strengthened the competitiveness of its core businesses, including advertising and commerce, by applying AI to its content and data," and added, "This year, we will create new value and monetization opportunities through Shopping Agent and AI Tab, and secure mid- to long-term growth drivers through strategic investments focused on content, AI infrastructure and N Delivery."
Meanwhile, Naver also unveiled a new three-year shareholder return plan for fiscal year 2025 through 2027. It plans to return 25%–35% of the average consolidation free cash flow of the previous two years through share repurchases and cancellations or cash dividends. In addition, Naver said that starting in the first quarter of 2026, it will reorganize its revenue classification system into three pillars: Naver Platform (advertising and services), Financial Platform, and Global Challenge (C2C, content and enterprise).