NHN Corporation (NHN) posts record third-quarter revenue and operating profit, driven by payments and cloud

[Financial News]  NHN posted record quarterly results in the third quarter of this year, fueled by growth in key businesses including games, payments and cloud services. In particular, expansion of its artificial intelligence (AI) graphics processing unit (GPU) business and an increase in overseas payment transaction value drove the improvement. NHN plans to expand its data center operating capacity to about 100 megawatts (MW) by the end of next year to meet rising demand for AI infrastructure.
On the 10th, NHN said it recorded consolidated revenue of 758.3 billion won and operating profit of 58.8 billion won in the third quarter of this year. The figures were up 21.2% and 112.6%, respectively, from the same period a year earlier, and both revenue and operating profit marked record highs for a quarter.
By business segment, game revenue was 131 billion won, up 10.7% from the same period a year earlier. Revenue from webboard games rose 16.2%, helped by an increase in average revenue per user and the Chuseok holiday effect, among other factors. In particular, Hangame Mobile Poker posted record monthly revenue for two consecutive months, September and October.
Revenue from the payments segment rose 21.5% year on year to 397.6 billion won. NHN KCP Corp.'s total transaction value in the third quarter increased 30.5% to 17.3 trillion won. Of that amount, transaction value at overseas merchants rose 75.4%, while its share of total transaction value reached 25.3%, a record high.
Revenue from the technology segment was 171.7 billion won, up 53.6% from the same period a year earlier. NHN Cloud's revenue increased 75.5%, driven by growth in its AI GPU business, and it maintained profitability.
NHN Cloud sold all of the GPU capacity available to external customers over the next five years at its Seoul Yangpyeong region, which it operates through a government GPU deployment project. In August, it newly deployed NVIDIA Corporation B300 GPUs at the Gwangju National AI Data Center, and revenue recognition from its private-sector GPU cluster business also began to ramp up.
NHN is also stepping up its expansion of the AI infrastructure business. NHN Cloud plans to expand its infrastructure with the aim of operating AI data centers with a capacity of about 100 MW, including existing facilities, by the end of next year.
To that end, it plans to lease 20 MW at the Pohang AI Data Center, which is scheduled for completion in the fourth quarter of next year, and build its own 10 MW infrastructure in the Gwangju Research and Development Special Zone. Separately, it plans to lease a 26 MW facility at the Jangseong Pine AI Data Center.
It plans to install at least 1,700 B300 GPUs at metropolitan-area data centers, including those in Seoul's Gasan district and Incheon's Gajwa district, and begin rolling out services and recognizing revenue starting in January next year.
In its games business, NHN will focus on operating domestic webboard games and mobile games in Japan while restructuring some less profitable businesses. In payments, it plans to pursue the development of payment infrastructure based on stablecoins and AI agents.
[email protected] Jang Min-kwon Reporter