South Korea’s leading game and online service provider NHN Corp. saw its operating profit in the second quarter jump 70.8 percent from a year earlier, helped by robust online game sales and diversified business portfolio.

The company said in its regulatory filing Friday that its operating profit for the quarter ended June was 25.4 billion won ($21 million), up 70.8 percent on year and 17.1 percent on quarter.

Revenue totaled 366.2 billion won, up 12.6 percent from a year ago but off 1.2 percent from the previous three months.

Net profit fell 32.5 percent on year but rose 56.0 percent on quarter to 17.3 billion won.

NHN shares closed Friday 0.16 percent higher at 63,500 won.

Sales of its online game business gained 6.9 percent on year to 104.5 billion won, thanks to the sustained popularity of its signature titles Compass, Yokai Watch Puni Puni and Crusaders Quest.

Sales were down 8 percent against the previous three months when the company embarked on a strong promotional drive. The soft seasonal demand in digital board games in the second quarter further dented results, the company added.

Mobile games accounted for 64 percent of total sales, with PC games making up the remaining 36 percent. By region, the domestic market was responsible for 41 percent of sales and the overseas market 59 percent.

Its payment and advertising business saw sales grow 10 percent on year to 129.3 billion won. Transactions at its mobile payment platform Payco surged 30 percent on expanded services like customized coupons. NHN KCP, its online payment business unit, reached No. 1 in the payment gateway market thanks to increased online transactions and a growing roster of overseas partners. Advertising income at NHN Ace, the digital marketing arm, also rose.

Revenue from its contents business soared 25.9 percent on year to 47.7 billion won on increased traffic at its webtoon portal Comico and added sales of Wisdom House, a publisher it acquired in the third quarter. But its top line was off 2.7 percent from the previous three months due to a one-off sales uptick at NHN Bugs, its music streaming service, in the first quarter.

Ecommerce business reported sales of 47.5 billion won, up 17.2 percent from last year. NHN Global did well in its wholesale and retail platform operations while Accommate grew its B2B business in health food products. Compared with the previous quarter, sales were down 3.1 percent due to restructuring in its U.S. shopping mall business.

By Oh Dae-seok and Kim Hyo-jin

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]