NHN headquarters (NHN)

The COVID-19 pandemic is proving to be a boon for online service providers.

Korea’s NHN, for one, posted a 59 percent increase in year-on-year net profit in the first quarter on the back of a strong performance by its online payment solution, Payco, and its online games.

According to its regulatory filing on May 8, NHN posted revenue of 394.6 billion won ($323 million), up 6.5 percent on-year; operating profit of 28.3 billion won, up 30.2 percent on-year; and net profit of 17.6 billion won, up 58.9 percent on-year.

Payco facilitates one-click transactions at online shops. 

From January through March, when the spread of COVID-19 led the nation to enforce strong social distancing measures, the volume of online transactions using Payco grew by 31 percent on-year, hitting 1.7 trillion won, NHN said.

The company’s games Line Disney Tsum Tsum and Yo-kai Watch Puni Puni drew in more revenue, resulting on-quarter growth of 4.7 percent to 104.7 billion won. Korea accounted for 49 percent of the revenue and overseas business accounted for 51 percent.

By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)