Kakao Q3 operating profit up 15.5% on stable growth of platform biz

Korean internet tech giant Kakao Corp. said Thursday its operating profit rose 15.5 percent from a year earlier, boosted by the stable growth of its flagship platform business. On a consolidated basis, the company reported an operating profit of 240.3 billion won ($179.2 million) in the July-September period, according to its regulatory filing. Sales remained unchanged at 2.08 trillion won, while net income was down 7.9 percent to 177.7 billion won. The company's flagship platform business saw sales grow 17 percent on-year to 1.24 trillion won. Notably, turnover of its commerce business rose 13 percent on-year to 2.3 trillion won, as more people used the KakaoTalk platform to purchase goods during the Chuseok holidays and as well as to buy items for themselves, the IT company explained. Kakao's ride-hailing and payment services, also included in its platform unit, generated 602.1 billion won in sales, up 21 percent on-year. But sales from its content business were down 6 percent on-year to 851.7 billion won due to a drop in new album releases and large concerts, as well as a decline in sal