Kakao achieved record first-quarter revenue and operating profit, helped by growth in key businesses including its platform unit and cost efficiency.

Kakao said on Wednesday it posted first-quarter revenue of 1.94 trillion won and operating profit of 211.4 billion won on a consolidated K-IFRS basis. That compared with a year earlier, when revenue rose 11 percent and operating profit increased 66 percent. Operating margin came in at 11 percent.

By business area, platform revenue in the first quarter rose 16 percent from a year earlier to 1.18 trillion won. Within that, Tokbiz revenue increased 9 percent to 608.6 billion won. Tokbiz advertising revenue rose 16 percent to 338.4 billion won as business message ads, up 27 percent, and display ads, up 10 percent, both grew on expanding demand led by financial advertisers and a broader range of message products.

Combined gross transaction value for Tokbiz commerce, including Gift and Tokdeal, rose 10 percent to 2.9 trillion won in the first quarter. The company said the Kakao Shopping Festa held in March lifted Tokstore transaction value by 18 percent and self-purchase transaction value within Gift by 53 percent. First-quarter commerce revenue rose 1 percent to 270.0 billion won.

Other platform revenue, which includes mobility and pay, climbed 30 percent to 506.5 billion won. Mobility recorded double-digit revenue growth for a third consecutive quarter, based on taxi, parking, last-mile logistics and advertising. Pay posted quarterly revenue above 300.0 billion won for the first time as payments, finance and platform services grew overall.

Content revenue in the first quarter rose 5 percent to 759.4 billion won. Music revenue of 484.6 billion won and media revenue of 92.4 billion won increased 11 percent and 23 percent, respectively, while story revenue of 182.4 billion won was about the same level as a year earlier. Operating expenses in the first quarter rose 7 percent to 1.73 trillion won.

Kakao plans to step up its shift to an agentic artificial intelligence (AI) platform.

Kakao CEO Shina Chung (정신아) said, "It is encouraging that the first quarter achieved qualitative growth by strengthening fundamental competitiveness." She added, "Building on the structural growth momentum of existing businesses, Kakao will now begin a transition beyond messaging to an agentic AI platform used by 50 million users."