Top portal reports 25% jump in Q3 earnings on mobile ads

NHN, the nation’s top Internet portal operator, said yesterday its third-quarter earnings soared 25 percent from a year earlier on robust advertising revenue.

Net profit totaled 127 billion won ($117 million) in the July-September period, compared with a profit of 102 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Sales climbed 12.5 percent on-year to 596 billion won in the cited period, and operating profit rose 4.3 percent to 156 billion won.

NHN said it saw double-digit revenue growth in both its search and display advertisement businesses. Mobile clicks drove up its search ad revenue, while display ads saw bigger demand amid the London Olympics, according to the company.

Most of NHN’s revenue comes from advertisements on Naver, its flagship Web portal that features an array of content including e-mail service, news, online shopping, games, blogs, entertainment and stocks.

Yonhap