NHN posts record quarterly sales, operating profit in Q3

NHN posted record quarterly sales and operating profit in the third quarter, driven by broad-based growth across its gaming, payments and technology segments, with the Chuseok holiday providing an additional boost to game revenue.

According to Korea Exchange filings Tuesday, NHN reported consolidated third-quarter sales of 758.3 billion won ($559 million) and operating profit of 58.8 billion won, up 21.2 percent and 112.6 percent, respectively, from the same period a year earlier. Both figures were all-time quarterly highs for the company.

The gaming segment generated 131 billion won in sales, a 10.7 percent increase year on year. The gains were driven by higher average revenue per user in web board games following regulatory changes, the September Chuseok holiday effect and continued strong turnout at the offline tournament series HPT. Hangame Mobile Poker achieved its highest-ever monthly sales in September and extended that record into October.

The payments segment posted 397.6 billion won in sales, up 21.5 percent year on year. NHN KCP processed a total transaction volume of 17.3 trillion won in the third quarter, a 30.5 percent increase from a year earlier. Transactions from overseas merchants surged 75.4 percent year on year and accounted for 25.3 percent of total transaction volume, a record high share.

The technology segment recorded 171.7 billion won in sales, up 53.6 percent year on year. NHN Cloud maintained a stable profit structure on the back of continued growth in its AI GPU business.

The Seoul Yangpyeong region, operated as part of a government GPU infrastructure project, sold out its entire five-year allocation of externally available GPU capacity. In August, NHN Cloud deployed the latest B300 GPUs at the Gwangju National AI Data Center, and revenue recognition from the Krafton GPU cluster project also began in earnest, broadening the company's business performance across the board.

In addition, the results of Innogrid — absorbed as an NHN Cloud subsidiary in July — began to be reflected in third-quarter earnings. The company is continuing preparations to generate synergies in the private cloud market, where security requirements are particularly stringent, including in the public, defense and financial sectors.

"All of our core businesses maintained steady growth and profitability, allowing us to achieve record quarterly earnings again in the third quarter," NHN Chief Executive Jeong Woo-jin said. "We plan to firmly establish ourselves as a market leader in businesses that will serve as future growth engines — including stablecoin and AI agent payments and GPU services — and build a solid foundation for sustained growth."