Net profit doubles at NHN Corporation

NHN Corp., Korea’s top Internet company by market value, said yesterday its second-quarter net profit more than doubled from a year earlier, boosted by an increase in online advertising revenues. Net income rose to 32.4 billion won ($33.9 million) in the April-June period, up 120.4 percent from a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. Sales jumped 59.9 percent to 132.9 billion won, with operating profit surging 65.1 percent to 50.6 billion won. Compared with three months earlier, however, net profit declined 7.7 percent, the company said. NHN operates the nation’s most visited Internet portal, Naver.com, and No. 1 online game portal Hangame.com. The company said the second-quarter earnings growth was mainly due to increased online advertisement revenues. Sales from search engine-based advertisement grew 70.8 percent to 68.1 billion won from a year ago.