Naver invests in the future despite lower profits, with a 2 trillion won AI Factory deal and move into logistics

[Financial News] Naver grew its business on the back of growth in commerce, payments and global consumer-to-consumer (C2C) operations, but operating profit fell by more than 20% year on year amid the burden of AI investment. The company plans to boost its commerce competitiveness by establishing a logistics subsidiary, while turning its investments into revenue through its AI Factory business, which has secured a computing services supply contract worth about 2 trillion won.
According to industry sources on the 12th, Naver posted consolidated revenue of 3.4724 trillion won and operating profit of 451.3 billion won in the third quarter of this year. Revenue rose 10.7% from the same period a year earlier, while operating profit fell 20.9%. The decline reflected increased investment in AI infrastructure, content and offline data.
Revenue by business segment was 1.9484 trillion won for Naver Platform, 487.7 billion won for Financial Platform and 1.0364 trillion won for Global Challenge.
Naver Platform revenue rose 7.3% year on year and 2.4% quarter on quarter. Advertising growth driven by expanded AI monetization and an increase in purchases centered on the Naver Plus Store app and membership supported performance. Revenue from services within the platform grew 13.1% year on year, helped by growth in Store and membership users and the expansion of N Delivery.
Naver will establish a logistics subsidiary to sustain growth in commerce. The company plans to gradually expand its delivery infrastructure, centered on leased logistics centers, to drive growth in purchases. The key is to secure transaction volume by improving delivery competitiveness, then use the increased volume to boost logistics efficiency.
Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon said, “To further enhance our delivery competitiveness, we will establish a logistics subsidiary and gradually strengthen delivery infrastructure centered on leased logistics centers,” adding, “We will build a commerce ecosystem in which sellers, users and partners grow together.”
Financial Platform revenue rose 14.1% year on year and 3.6% quarter on quarter to 487.7 billion won. NAVER Pay payment volume reached 26.2 trillion won, up 15.6% from the same period a year earlier. A 21.8% increase in external payment volume drove the growth.
NAVER Financial Corporation is strengthening the connection between online and offline payments by rolling out its offline integrated terminal, Npay Connect. It aims to become the leading operator in South Korea’s offline integrated terminal market by the first half of next year, measured by the number of active terminals.
Revenue in the Global Challenge segment rose 15.9% year on year and 2.0% quarter on quarter to 1.0364 trillion won. C2C revenue increased with the effect of Wallapop’s inclusion and strong transaction activity on Poshmark and SODA, while business-to-business operations, including its digital twin business in Saudi Arabia, also grew.
The AI Factory business is seen as a new source of revenue that could ease the pressure on profitability from increased AI investment. The business, being pursued with Brookfield and NVIDIA Corporation, is expected to begin contributing meaningfully to results in the first half of next year. Naver has secured initial customers by signing a computing services supply contract worth about 2 trillion won.
Choi said, “While pursuing mid- to long-term contracts with large customers, we plan to expand our customer base to global AI companies with high growth potential and secure not only stability but also high profitability.”
Naver is also accelerating AI monetization across its existing services. Following AI Briefing and AI Tab, the company plans to launch a personalized AI agent app by the end of this year, connecting information searches and recommendations to actual purchases and visits.
Choi emphasized, “Personalized AI agents will offer a new user experience that goes beyond users finding the information they need themselves: they will anticipate tasks that need to be done or take care of tedious work on users’ behalf.” She added, “We will continue to evolve search while attracting new user groups and creating monetization opportunities.”
[email protected] Jang Min-kwon Reporter