Kakao said it posted its highest-ever quarterly revenue and operating profit in the first quarter, with broad-based growth across its platform and content businesses. Growth was led by core platform operations including advertising, commerce, mobility and payments.
Kakao said May 7 that first-quarter revenue rose 11% from a year earlier to 1.9421 trillion won, while operating profit jumped 66% to 211.4 billion won on a consolidated basis.
Platform revenue increased 16% to 1.1827 trillion won. Within that, Tokbiz revenue rose 9% to 608.6 billion won, and Tokbiz advertising revenue climbed 16% to 338.4 billion won. Kakao said stronger demand from financial advertisers lifted overall message volume, and a wider range of message products expanded how advertisers used the service. Business messaging revenue rose 27%, while display advertising revenue increased 10%.
Combined transaction volume for Tokbiz commerce services such as Gift and Tokdeal grew 10% to 2.9 trillion won. Kakao attributed the gain to a stronger product lineup in high-demand categories such as fresh food and home appliances, along with more advanced personalized benefits. During the “Kakao Shopping Festa” held in March, Tokstore transaction volume rose 18% from a year earlier and self-purchase transactions within Gift surged 53%. First-quarter commerce revenue increased 1% to 270 billion won.
Other platform revenue, which includes mobility and Pay, rose 30% to 506.5 billion won. Kakao said its mobility business posted double-digit year-on-year revenue growth for a third straight quarter, supported by taxis, parking, last-mile logistics and advertising. Pay’s quarterly revenue topped 300 billion won for the first time, driven by growth across payments, financial services and platform services.
Content revenue rose 5% to 759.4 billion won. Music revenue increased 11% to 484.6 billion won, and media revenue climbed 23% to 92.4 billion won. Story revenue totaled 182.4 billion won.
Operating expenses rose 7% to 1.7307 trillion won. Operating profit rose 66% to 211.4 billion won, and the operating margin was 11%. A Kakao official said the first quarter is typically a seasonal slow period with relatively weaker profitability, but profitability improved this year as efficiency efforts focused on core businesses were reflected in results.
Looking ahead, Kakao said it plans to accelerate its transition this year to an agentic AI platform, citing growing expectations and interest as execution-focused AI environments that connect to real-world actions spread quickly.
Kakao previously launched AI services “Kanana in KakaoTalk” and “Kakao Search” in stages, based on conversation context within KakaoTalk. The company said it is building a structure that links identifying user needs from chat context through to reservations and payments in a single flow. Kakao said it aims to onboard and serve 50 million users on its AI services as it shifts to an AI platform.
Kakao CEO Chung Shin-a said, “In the first quarter, we achieved qualitative growth by strengthening our fundamental competitiveness,” adding, “Building on the structural growth momentum of our existing businesses, we will begin the transition to an agentic AI platform used by 50 million users.”
* This article has been translated by AI.
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