Kakao Corp.

Company Background

Kakao is a leading South Korean information technology company created in October 2014 by a merger between Daum Communications, the operator of the Daum search engine, and Kakao, the provider of the KakaoTalk chat app. It has been adding new services, such as mobile payments, to attract more users in Southeast Asia and elsewhere.

Kakao's search engine market share in South Korea has been hovering at some 20%, lagging behind Naver, another Seoul-based company. But KakaoTalk has more than 37 million monthly active users, meaning that over 70% of South Koreans use the instant messaging service -- an outstanding market presence.

Kakao has been adding services, including online shopping, taxi hailing and music streaming, to add more value to KakaoTalk. Currently, advertising and games generate most of its revenue, but earnings from digital content and e-commerce operations are rising.

Kakao is behind WhatsApp, from U.S.-based Facebook; WeChat, from China-based Tencent Holdings; and Line, from Naver; as far as number of users and global scale go. But it is trying to gain Southeast Asian users and recently acquired Path, a U.S.-based social network that has gained a degree of popularity in Indonesia.

Business Summary

Kakao Corp. is engaged in developing portals and other internet information service parameters. The company operates through the following business divisions: Advertising Platform and Contents Platform. Its services include communication, media, content, games, lifestyle, fintech, and search. The company was founded on February 16, 1995 and is headquartered in Jeju-si, South Korea.

Financial Highlights

Dec 2022	KRW	USD
Revenue	7,106.83B	5,500.21M
Gross Profit	3,883.33B	3,005.44M
Operating income	579,873.25M	448.78M
Income before tax	1,361.99B	1,054.09M
Net income	1,352.93B	1,047.08M
EBITDA	1,149.00B	889.25M
Diluted EPS	3,054.75	2.36
Dividends Per Share	60	0.04
Total Assets	22,963.49B	18,160.13M
Total liabilities	9,431.62B	7,458.78M
Total equity	9,997.27B	7,906.10M
Operating cash flow	678,376.49M	525.01M
	Currency in KRW	Currency in USD

Historical Data

KRW | USD

	Dec 2018	Dec 2019	Dec 2020	Dec 2021	Dec 2022
Revenue	2,416.99B	3,070.11B	4,156.81B	6,136.66B	7,106.83B
Gross Profit	1,265.22B	795,687.41M	2,148.44B	3,296.20B	3,883.33B
Operating income	69,392.30M	207,134.95M	453,879.87M	592,882.97M	579,873.25M
Income before tax	130,669.86M	-214,485.68M	405,579.05M	1,783.60B	1,361.99B
Net income	47,885.55M	-301,002.84M	155,623.76M	1,392.15B	1,352.93B
EBITDA	204,421.16M	425,905.79M	715,805.68M	956,070.81M	1,149.00B
Diluted EPS	122.80	-755.18	367.62	3,145.59	3,054.75
Dividends Per Share	25.40	25.40	30	53	60
Total Assets	7,959.54B	8,737.25B	11,953.97B	22,779.55B	22,963.49B
Total liabilities	2,332.38B	2,997.13B	4,526.24B	9,189.58B	9,431.62B
Total equity	5,136.85B	5,225.35B	6,298.92B	9,984.37B	9,997.27B
Operating cash flow	491,469.88M	752,667.42M	971,096.47M	1,306.57B	678,376.49M

	Dec 2018	Dec 2019	Dec 2020	Dec 2021	Dec 2022
Revenue	2,196.23M	2,632.61M	3,523.06M	5,358.79M	5,500.21M
Gross Profit	1,149.66M	682.29M	1,820.89M	2,878.38M	3,005.44M
Operating income	63.05M	177.61M	384.68M	517.72M	448.78M
Income before tax	118.73M	-183.92M	343.74M	1,557.51M	1,054.09M
Net income	43.51M	-258.10M	131.89M	1,215.68M	1,047.08M
EBITDA	185.74M	365.21M	606.67M	834.88M	889.25M
Diluted EPS	0.11	-0.64	0.31	2.74	2.36
Dividends Per Share	0.02	0.02	0.02	0.04	0.04
Total Assets	7,133.48M	7,555.23M	11,004.29M	19,162.61M	18,160.13M
Total liabilities	2,090.32M	2,591.67M	4,166.65M	7,730.46M	7,458.78M
Total equity	4,603.73M	4,518.44M	5,798.50M	8,399.05M	7,906.10M
Operating cash flow	446.58M	645.41M	823.04M	1,140.95M	525.01M

Valuation Measures

Dec 2022
PER	17.09
ROA	5.91%
ROE	13.54%
Operating margin	8.15%
Profit margin	19.03%

Key executives

Chief Executive Officer: Eun-Taek Hong
Head-Compliance Support: Tae-Sung Jung

Shareholders

KIM BEOM-SOO /KAKAO/ (23.7%)
National Pension Service of Korea (6.4%)
Maximo Pte Ltd. (5.9%)
SK Telecom Co., Ltd. (2.4%)
Kakao Corp. (1.9%)
The Vanguard Group, Inc. (1.8%)
BlackRock Fund Advisors (1.6%)
Norges Bank Investment Management (1.0%)
BlackRock Advisors (UK) Ltd. (0.7%)
Fidelity Management & Research Co. LLC (0.7%)

Contact Details

Website:http://www.kakaocorp.com
Phone: +82.2.1577.3321

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Competitors

Snap, Inc. Class A
Weibo Corp Class A
Carelabs Co., Ltd.
GENIE MUSIC CORP
Connectwave Co., Ltd.
Dreamus Company
BK TOPS Co., Ltd.
NHN KCP Corp.
SALTLUX Inc
Shinhan Financial Group Co., Ltd.
Wider Planet Inc.

Last Updated on 30 Mar, 2023