Seoul: NHN Corp., a prominent player in South Korea's information technology and online gaming sectors, announced on Tuesday that its net profit for the second quarter more than doubled compared to the same period last year, fueled by robust growth in its core operations. The company revealed a net profit of 29.1 billion won (US$20.5 million) for the April-June quarter, marking a 158.8 percent increase from the previous year, as per its regulatory filing.

According to Yonhap News Agency, NHN reported an operating income of 57.9 billion won for the quarter, reflecting a 164.1 percent rise compared to the same period last year. Additionally, the company's sales saw a significant boost, climbing 25.3 percent to reach 757.9 billion won. Impressively, these figures represent the highest for any quarter in the company's history.

The surge in NHN's financial performance was largely driven by its flagship payment business, which experienced a 27.3 percent increase in sales, totaling 394 billion won. Meanwhile, the company's technology divisions, including its burgeoning artificial intelligence (AI) cloud services, reported a 52.9 percent jump in revenue, amounting to 159.8 billion won for the same period.

NHN's gaming division also contributed to the positive results, with revenue increasing by 21.5 percent to 139.6 billion won. Conversely, sales from other segments, such as travel, saw an 8.8 percent decline compared to the previous year.

Looking ahead, NHN aims to further bolster the growth of its core business areas in the latter half of the year. The company plans to focus on developing new gaming content, particularly for the Japanese market, and exploring innovative payment solutions for stablecoins, which are expected to drive future growth.

Furthermore, NHN is set to significantly expand its AI infrastructure business, with an emphasis on overseas markets. As part of this strategy, the company intends to establish data centers in Japan, according to a company executive.