NHN Q3 net up 18 pct on higher revenue

(ATTN: UPDATES with more details in para 2, 5-7)
SEOUL, Nov. 7 (Yonhap) -- NHN Corp., the operator of South Korea's top Internet
portal Naver, said Friday that its third-quarter earnings rose 17.8 percent from
a year ago on increased search revenue and online ads.

Net income came to 83 billion won (US$62.5 million) in the July-September period,
compared with 70.5 billion won a year earlier, NHN said in a regulatory filing.
The bottom line, however, slipped 3.9 percent from the previous quarter.
Sales climbed 24.1 percent to 293 billion won in the third quarter and operating
profit also gained 12.8 percent to 111.4 billion won, the company said.
Market watchers expect NHN to sustain its momentum, as Internet-savvy Koreans
spend more time on its Web site to search or play online games, allowing the
company to draw more advertisers.
The company said its sales in search services climbed 23.2 percent from last year
to 151.6 billion won, while sales in online game services jumped 33 percent to
86.4 billion won.
NHN's overseas operations have also shown marginal but steady growth. NHN Japan's
quarterly sales increased 24.8 percent on-year to 37.88 billion won and its
Chinese unit also recorded a 3 percent increase in revenue.
"We plan to closely monitor the economy and the market to prepare ourselves with
various measures amid an expected global economic slowdown," said Choi Hwi-young,
chief executive of NHN.
odissy@yna.co.kr
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