Daum Kakao Corp. today reported fiscal year and fourth quarter financial results under Korean-IFRS, the first to reflect the merged company’s consolidated earnings,. Daum Kakao’s consolidated revenue for the quarter was KRW 254 billion, and KRW 898.4 billion for the fiscal year 2014. With mobile services comprising of 53% and 49% of the revenue, respectively, the company continued to strengthen its position as the leading mobile lifestyle platform provider in Korea.
KRW 254 billion revenue and KRW 65.7 billion operating profit for 4Q 2014
Daum Kakao’s fourth quarter revenue of KRW 254 billion represents an increase of 21% YoY and 15% QoQ. The largest growth was in the commerce platform. Seasonal factors and an increased product lineup in KakaoTalk Gift Store attributed to a robust revenue growth of 171% QoQ. Strong performance from advertising platforms including KakaoStory and Ad@m lead to revenue growth of 15% QoQ. KakaoGame’s budding average revenue per user (ARPU) lead to 17% QoQ increase in game platform revenue. Revenue from “Others”, powered by growth in mobile content platforms such as Daum Webtoon, KakaoPage, KakaoMusic and others, increased 119% YoY.
Fourth quarter operating profit increased 71% YoY to KRW 65.7 billion and net profit increased 36% YoY to KRW 50.6 billion.
KRW 898.4 billion revenue and KRW 209.2 billion operating profit for fiscal year 2014
For the fiscal year 2014, Daum Kakao’s revenue grew 21% YoY to KRW 898.4 billion. 49% was courtesy of mobile services, with noticeable revenue growth throughout its various platforms, including commerce, advertising and game, contributing to the figure. Operating profit increased 42% YoY to KRW 209.2 billion and net profit increased 10% YoY to KRW 140.3 billion.
Strengthening competitiveness in various platforms, including O2O, communication, search and game, to be the focus for 2015
Since launching last October, Daum Kakao has developed a number of new business platforms while enhancing its core services.
Daum Kakao added interest-based communication services with the launch of Zap, an image-based social media app, and the acquisition of Kid’s Note, a tool for parents to monitor young children’s school activities.
The company’s financial services also showed noticeable growth. Mobile payment service KakaoPay currently has three million subscribers and is expected to be adopted by more than 60 retailers. BankWalletKakao, a mobile banking application created in partnership with 16 domestic banks, was released last November and Daum Kakao is planning to grow the user base through various marketing promotions.
Eyeing a first quarter launch, KakaoTaxi is in the process of registering drivers for its service, and a revamped mobile search service is in consideration. Recently established Daum Kakao China is expected publish its first title in China during the first half of 2015.
Sae-Hoon Choi, co-CEO of Daum Kakao, said, “Since the merger, we have made a number of exciting attempts to ‘Connect Everything’. Various services introduced in 2015 will continue to reflect that vision and will be keystones in the mobile lifestyle platform that Daum Kakao is striving for.
