Daum reaping rewards from online advertising

Daum Communications Corp., Korea’s second-largest Internet portal operator, reported yesterday that its second-quarter earnings jumped more than five fold from a year earlier on increased online advertisement.
Net income reached 3.4 billion won ($3.7 million) during the April to June period, compared with 657 million won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.
Sales surged 31.2 percent year-on-year to 149 billion won and operating profit grew 36 percent to 4.4 billion won. The robust quarterly earnings stemmed from increased revenue from online ads linked to Internet queries and improved profitability in its auto insurance business, the company added. During the three-month period, Daum reported sales from search-linked ads grew 46.2 percent from a year earlier to 24.6 billion won.
In the online car insurance business, which was launched in 2004, the company said its effective marketing and expanded customer base helped it post a profit following the previous year’s losses. It reported 1.2 billion won in net profit in the insurance division compared with 42 million won a year earlier. The earnings results, including the company’s overseas operations, were announced before the local stock market opened. Yonhap