Seongsuk Han Han, which ends in March of this year, Naver posted the highest performance last year. Sales exceeded 6.8 trillion won, looking at 7 trillion won, and operating profit recorded 1.325 trillion won. Excluding Line, the company has achieved remarkable earnings growth. Search, commerce, fintech, and cloud have grown evenly, and businesses that Naver has invested and tried in the meantime have begun to see the light of day.
In the last conference call, CEO Han Seong-suk also predicted that Naver’s challenge will continue, especially in the global market.
On the morning of the 27th, Naver announced that in the fourth quarter of last year, sales increased by 27.4% to KRW 1.92 trillion, and operating profit increased by 8.5% to KRW 351.2 billion. Last year’s sales were 6.81 trillion won, up 28.5% from the previous year, and operating profit was up 9.1% to 1.325.5 trillion won.
Even growth in all sectors… Naver’s unique business model worked
Sales by business division in the fourth quarter were: ▲ Search platform: 886.9 billion won ▲ Commerce: 45.2 billion won ▲ Fintech: 295.2 billion won ▲ Content: 233.3 billion won
Search platform sales recorded 886.9 billion won, up 15.2% from the same period of the previous year and 7.5% from the previous quarter due to improvements in search quality and reorganization of the smart place. Display sales within the search platform increased by 26.1% compared to the same period of the previous year, maintaining high growth.
CEO Han said, “Despite the fact that the real-time spiked search term service ended early last year, the scale of business QC (number of searches) such as shopping and local is growing for three consecutive quarters through AI technology-based recommendation and matching technology.” The UGC ecosystem is revitalized, with the production of unseo content and total sales more than doubled compared to 2019, and the proportion of the MZ generation has reached 70% of the total blogger usage.”
Naver is also strengthening its advertising product lineup to respond to the needs of advertisers. For the 2 million local SMEs already registered on Naver, SmartPlace has been reorganized as a platform for providing integrated local solutions.
CEO Han said, “The number of weekly visiting operators has grown 6 times compared to the beginning of the year, and place advertisements are growing rapidly through the voluntary participation of new advertisers after launch. We will also pursue global expansion in the future.”
Commerce sales increased 27.9% YoY and 6.6% QoQ to KRW 45.2 billion, driven by the growth of Shopping Live and brand stores. The shopping live transaction amount grew 4.7 times in one year, and the number of live transactions that generated more than 100 million won in the fourth quarter also increased by 39% compared to the previous quarter.
CEO Han said, “Brand Store and Shopping Live achieved results that exceeded 10% of the total smart store transaction value within a year and a half after launch. , Shopping Live is contributing to monetization, with the number of live shows with a transaction value of 100 million won or more growing by 39% compared to the previous quarter thanks to the active participation of brands and SMEs.”
He added, “We will continue to expand our differentiated solution lineup and expand our existing advertising and commission-oriented revenue model to solutions in the mid to long term.”
Fintech sales also recorded KRW 295.2 billion, up 46.8% from the same period last year and 22.1% from the previous quarter. Naver Pay’s payment amount increased by 10.9 trillion won thanks to the addition of new global affiliates. The number of monthly payment users of Naver Pay increased by 9% compared to the previous year, reaching 16 million, and Paypoint recharge payments increased by 102% compared to the previous year, expanding loyal users.
Content sales recorded KRW 233.3 billion, up 67.9% from the previous year and 26.7% from the previous quarter, thanks to the growth of webtoons and ZEPETO. Cloud sales grew 25.2% YoY and 11.4% QoQ to KRW 177.2 billion thanks to new customer orders.
In particular, Naver Webtoon surpassed 1 trillion won in annual global transactions in the fourth quarter. Collaboration with partners with global IPs is also in full swing, and Marvel’s Eternals webtoon was exclusively released ahead of the movie’s release, and the original webtoon using BTS IP recorded 15 million cumulative views within two days of global release.
CEO Han said, “The success of the drama ‘That Year Us’, co-produced by Studio N, is not only a video work using the existing Webtoon IP, but also a successful case of webtoon and videography. He said, “This year’s webtoon will focus on growing the transaction volume based on the introduction of various new revenue models and expanding the economic scale of the global storytelling platform including advertising and IP businesses.”
Han Seong-suk leaving… “Global achievements begin now”
At the beginning and the end of the conference call, CEO Han Seong-suk also revealed the achievements and impressions of Naver for the past 5 years.
CEO Han said, “I remember that there were some concerns as much as the market’s expectations when Naver announced its global expansion and started investing in new businesses in earnest. , I think that it was able to develop into an ideal structure for sustainable growth, encompassing both domestic and global markets. Thanks to shareholders, executives, employees, users, and partners who constantly believed in and supported us, we were able to overcome many difficulties and produce good results. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you.”
“Naver’s goal of seeking growth opportunities as a ‘global challenge aggregate’ that constantly presents the best service remains unchanged. Through securing Naver, we will continue to prove that Naver’s original competitiveness can succeed in the global market as well as in Korea.”
In addition, “In line with the demands of the new era surrounding the work environment and organizational culture, Naver is pursuing fundamental changes, including management renewal, while maintaining close communication with its members to create a healthier organizational culture.” Naver’s governance system, which has emphasized independence and transparency, is located in the center, and Naver will continue to strive to establish an excellent governance structure in accordance with the principle of prioritizing enhancement of corporate value.”
Related articles
CEO Han emphasized with confidence in his growth in the global market. If CEO Han has focused on laying the foundation for becoming a global company, it is a message that the new executives who will be appointed from March will try to prove their investments and attempts.
CEO Han said, “In Korea, where the world’s fastest change takes place, Naver has acquired technological prowess, and if the role of the CEO over the past five years was to solidify its global expansion, the new management will take on a full-fledged global challenge with technology and business know-how,” said CEO Han. We ask for your continued support and encouragement for our global growth story.”
