NHN shed the burden of the "Tmon·WeMakePrice (T-MEP) incident" and posted record annual results last year. Profitability improved as the benefits of structural improvements in payments and technology were reflected. However, whether it can return to a growth trajectory through the success of new game releases remains a task to be proven by this year's performance.
NHN on the 12th announced its results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2025. On a consolidation basis, fourth-quarter revenue was 685.7 billion won, up 6.5% from a year earlier and 9.6% from the previous quarter. Operating profit was 55.1 billion won, up 120.5% year over year and 99.5% quarter over quarter, with an operating margin of 8.0%. Net profit was 28.7 billion won.
Full-year revenue last year was 2.5163 trillion won, up 2.5% from the prior year. Operating profit swung to a profit of 132.4 billion won, and net profit was 57.7 billion won. NHN had posted a loss in 2024 after recognizing bad debt expenses for uncollected receivables stemming from the "T-MEP incident." The company said revenue growth in key business institutional sectors and the resolution of one-off expenses led to improved results.
Chief Executive Officer Jeong Woo-jin of NHN said on the earnings conference call that day, "We achieved record results in the fourth quarter of 2025 and on a full-year basis," adding, "This is the result of the full-fledged payoff from the business structure streamlining and structural improvements we have pursued." Jeong added, "In 2026, we will not stop at a recovery in profitability but make it a year to get back on a growth path centered on our core businesses."
By institutional sector, fourth-quarter game revenue was 126.1 billion won, up 6.0% from a year earlier and 6.7% from the previous quarter. Web board game revenue rose 2.2% from the previous quarter, and mobile game revenue was 83.8 billion won, up 12.3% year over year and 9.3% quarter over quarter. "Hangame Royal Hold'em" benefited from the launch of the new offline hold'em tournament HPT, and collaboration with external IP for mobile titles in Japan translated into higher revenue.
Web board games showed an initial improvement trend after the monthly payment cap was partially raised with the enforcement decree of the Game Industry Act revised on the 3rd of this month. Jeong said, "In the week following the regulatory change, web board game revenue posted double-digit growth from the same period a month earlier," adding, "We expect a trend similar to the past."
Payment institutional sector revenue was 345.6 billion won, up 16.2% from a year earlier and 5.6% from the previous quarter. NHN KCP in December surpassed a monthly transaction volume of 5 trillion won for the first time. The annual overseas merchant transaction volume in 2025 rose 28% from a year earlier, and the overseas share was 16.8%. Jeong said, "We are fleshing out internally the payment flow and settlement structure linked to stablecoins."
Technology institutional sector revenue was 139.1 billion won, up 17.4% from a year earlier and 24.5% from the previous quarter. NHN Cloud's fourth-quarter revenue rose 30.7% year over year and 37.6% quarter over quarter, recording its first quarterly operating profit in the black. The expansion of revenue from the Gwangju national AI data center's GPU services, public cloud migration, and disaster recovery projects contributed.
NHN Cloud was selected as the largest implementer in the government's "GPU procurement, build-out, and operation support project," securing 7,656 GPUs. More than 4,000 have been configured as a single cluster, with full-scale operation set to begin in March this year. The company expects meaningful growth in the GPU business this year and plans to build a stable operating profit structure in the cloud institutional sector.
The streamlining of noncore, low-return businesses also continued. NHN in January signed a deal to sell its entire equity stake in NHN Bugs. Chief Financial Officer An Hyeon-sik of NHN said, "Substantial management efficiency improvements were made in 2025 and will continue in part in 2026," adding, "We do not expect any further large impairments of goodwill."
NHN's additional growth this year is expected to be determined in the games institutional sector. The company will launch "Oshi no Ko Puzzle Star" in Japan on Feb. 25 and is preparing new IP-based titles such as "Dissidia Duelum Final Fantasy." "Abyssdia," introduced in Japan last year, is set for a global release, including Korea, at the end of February.
CFO An said, "Games are a hit-driven business, so they are hard to predict, but we have high hopes for major IP such as Final Fantasy," adding, "For this year's new titles, we aim to contribute at least 10% on an operating profit basis."