Naver Corp. fielded as Korea’s big-tech main player flourished during social distancing height in the second quarter under virus risk on record quarterly revenue driven by surge in online shopping, webtoon and clouding demand.

The company in a regulatory filing on Thursday said its operating profit for the second quarter ended June 30 came to 230.6 billion won ($194 million), up 4.1 percent from previous quarter and 79.7 percent from a year earlier.

Revenue totaled 1.9 trillion won, a record quarterly high. It was up 9.8 percent on quarter and 16.7 percent on year.

Naver shares closed Thursday 0.68 percent higher at 294,000 won. Naver has ascended to No. 3 on Kospi in market capitalization.

The company scored high all across the board from its main internet business, thanks to e-commerce activity, to fledgling financial and cloud services.

Business platform Line Works gained traction from remote working, Naver CEO Han Seong-sook said in a conference call following earnings release. The service has been adopted in various sectors, and the number of global users has doubled, she said.

Operating profit also improved sharply compared to second quarter last year when it spent big to promote digital wallet Line Pay in Japan.

Its main business platform business delivered 777.2 billion won in revenue, up 3.7 percent from the previous quarter and 8.6 percent from a year earlier, on growth in online store transactions from robust online shopping demand. Its subscription-based shopping service Naver Plus Membership launched in June also made solid contribution.

Revenue from IT business jumped 70.2 percent on year to 180.2 billion won in the second quarter on growth in online shopping transactions. Both customer base and use for cloud increased, while Naver Pay saw surge in vendors in the second quarter.

The advertising business recorded 174.7 billion won in revenue, up 21.3 percent from three months ago and 4.9 percent from a year earlier, after successfully expanding performance ads - an advertising service that allows advertisers pay based on performance results.

Content service contributed 79.6 billion won to revenue, up 58.9 percent from year earlier. The webtoon service marked 64 million monthly active users worldwide in the second quarter, and the gross merchandise volume soared 58 percent year-on-year. The revenue from V Line streaming services also recovered as artists resumed activities.

Naver’s messenger app Line and other platforms delivered 690.8 billion won in revenue, up 8.8 percent on quarter and 16.7 percent on year.

By Cho Jeehyun

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