SEOUL, KOREA - NHN, a Korean web portal and game publisher, posted an operating profit of 191.1 billion won for the first quarter of this year, up 10.5 percent year on year, with its first-quarter sales estimated at 673.6 billion won, up 17.6 percent year on year. Net profits amounted to 157 billion won.
By business segment, search advertising accounted for the largest share of 49 percent, followed by games with 23 percent, and display advertising with 12 percent.
Other sales, including those of its mobile messenger LINE, reached 110.5 billion won, up 204.8 percent from a year ago.
NHN also enjoyed a robust growth in overseas sales thanks to the growing popularity of its LINE worldwide. Overseas sales grew by 71.4 percent to 153.2 billion won, while domestic sales rose by 7.6 percent to 520.4 billion won.