-- Kakao (KRX:035720) posted a higher first-quarter net profit as strong growth in its platform and advertising businesses helped offset uneven performance in its content segment.
Net profit rose 13% to 226.8 billion won from 200.3 billion won a year earlier.
The South Korean internet company posted first-quarter net income attributable to shareholders of 171.7 billion won, little changed from 171.9 billion won a year earlier, according to a Thursday filing with the Korea Exchange.
Revenue rose 11% to 1.94 trillion won from 1.75 trillion won, though the figure came in below the Visible Alpha estimate of 2.02 trillion won.
Kakao's core platform division, which includes its mobility and Kakao Pay businesses, posted sales of 1.18 trillion won in the quarter, up 16% from a year earlier, supported by stronger advertising demand and growth in mobility and payment services.
During an earnings call, Kakao's Chief Executive, Chung Shin-a, said the company plans to expand its agentic commerce business in the second half of the year, including AI-powered shopping services integrated into KakaoTalk.
"We are preparing with major vertical players, a proactive, end-to-end agent service that connects from search to payment," Chung said, according to Yonhap News Agency.
She added that users are expected to experience an early version of Kakao's AI commerce service before the company's next earnings announcement.
The company said domestic KakaoTalk monthly active users remained stable at about 49.6 million in the first quarter.
Content revenue rose 4.7% to 759.4 billion won, supported by growth in its music and media businesses.
Within content, stronger album sales and expanded global concerts lifted music revenue, while media revenue benefited from a higher number of titles contributing to revenue.
Story revenue, however, remained under pressure amid weaker demand in Japan's manga market and softer gross merchandise value across platform and IP distribution businesses.