Hecto Financial set a quarterly record, helped by growth in its simple cash payment service.

Hecto Financial said on Wednesday it posted first-quarter consolidated revenue of 57.5 billion won and operating profit of 9.1 billion won. That was up 25.0 percent and 149.8 percent, respectively, from a year earlier, marking its best-ever results on a consolidated basis.

On a standalone basis, it posted revenue of 51.2 billion won and operating profit of 10.1 billion won. Revenue and operating profit rose 25.1 percent and 129.3 percent, respectively, from a year earlier, and standalone quarterly operating profit topped 10 billion won for the first time since the company was founded.

The improvement was driven largely by growth in its membership-based simple cash payment service, which has high profitability. As use of its "Naetongjang Payment" service expanded, cross-border settlement revenue also increased on the back of growth in global merchants.

Hecto Financial is stepping up its global fintech business. It plans to use its secured infrastructure to expand stablecoin-based cross-border settlement services, focusing on countries where regulations allow.

It is also conducting a proof of concept to build an automated payment system optimised for AI agent environments, as it moves to expand its next-generation financial infrastructure business.

Chief Executive Choi Jong-won (최종원) said standalone operating profit topped 10 billion won for the first time. "It is meaningful in that we are achieving qualitative growth focused on profitability beyond simply expanding transaction volume," he said.

"We will accelerate our leap into a global fintech company through stablecoin-based payment and settlement infrastructure and a global network," he said.