I will now turn it over to Kakao.
Hello, I'm Jeffrey from Kakao IR. We'll now begin Kakao's 2025 fourth quarter and full year earnings conference call. Today, I'm joined by Shina Chung, the CEO, and Jaden Shin, the CFO. Please be reminded that the earnings results are consolidated estimates under the K-IFRS basis and are subject to change upon the auditor's review. Also, forward-looking estimates are based on assumptions, so actual results may differ from figures included in today's presentation. Now, we will have a presentation from CEO Shina Chung. Good morning. This is Shina, CEO of Kakao. Over the past year, Kakao has focused on consolidating our group-wide capabilities around core businesses to ensure sustainable long-term growth. Through this process, we significantly streamlined our organizational structure, reducing the number of subsidiaries from 150 to 94 as of the end of the last year.
This year, while continuing our efforts for qualitative growth, we intend to shift our strategic gear towards the growth of AI and KakaoTalk, our core pillars, leveraging the energy we have built up over the past year. First, I would like to discuss AI. While it is clear that AI presents a massive business opportunity for Kakao, it also brings uncertainties as we navigate an uncharted territory. Consequently, starting in 2025, Kakao began conducting various rapid trials and experiments, increasing our probability of success by learning from failures. We initially piloted the studio structure, a purpose-oriented organization within our AI units. This lean and agile operation focused on clear objectives while effectively accelerated the launch of services and products. Based on this, we determined that an organizational structure capable of validating service value through iterative trials is essential for the AI era.
Therefore, as of February first, we expanded the studio model to the entire AI organization. From this year, each studio aims to develop and deploy new AI features in one-month cycles, established a high-velocity execution framework. ChatGPT for Kakao and Kanana in KakaoTalk, both launched last year, are results of the accelerated studio structure. Regarding ChatGPT for Kakao, I mentioned in the previous earnings call that we secured 2 million users shortly after launch. That user base has now expanded to 8 million, creating new traffic patterns for searching and generating content that did not previously exist within KakaoTalk. This year, we plan to build multiple touchpoints to ensure a more natural transition from the core messaging experience to ChatGPT for Kakao. Through this, we aim to secure a significant user base and discover high-utility AI use cases using Kakao's own agent, Kakao Tools.
Simultaneously, for Kanana in KakaoTalk, we have been conducting CBTs for small user groups since last year and are seeing great potential in on-device AI. Kakao is a company that holds data where 50 million people's daily conversations, searches, mobility, and payment are connected in a single context. This data asset is our core competitive advantage in implementing AI that is most closely integrated into daily life. On-device AI is the optimal way to provide the strongest protection for user privacy while creating new value from the previous or precious data assets. However, our biggest concern before the CBT was the barrier to entry, as users must download the AI model to their local device. Contrary to our concerns, over 80% of invited users completed the model download, proving that the download process is not a major obstacle.
Furthermore, approximately 70% of current users continued to use the device, which is an overwhelmingly high retention rate for a new service. Our internal analysis shows that the key to this high retention is the AI's role in proactively initiating conversations based on the user's chat context. To date, most global AI services have struggled to produce satisfying results with AI-initiated features, thus, most interactions still begin with the user prompting the AI. In contrast, for Kanana, over 60% of interactions begin with an AI-initiated message, which effectively drives user login. We have confirmed that the AI's ability to understand user intent and initiate conversation is a powerful moat that only Kakao can build. Another insight from this CBT is that schedule reminders and briefings linked to AI-initiated messages showed the highest frequency of use. Next, the most prominent user scenario was commerce....
Since a clear business opportunity has been identified, our goal for the first half of the year is to more actively explore contexts where transaction can occur. Based on this, we plan to strengthen user scenarios and validate monetization. In the first quarter, we plan to conclude the iOS-only CBT for Kanana and officially launch it both Android and iOS. Although the devices meeting the required specifications currently account for only half of all devices, we aim to gather a meaningful number of users post-launch by enhancing core features and expanding service access paths. While expanding user touch points, Kakao is also steadily accumulating research achievements in language models. Last year, we unveiled Kanana MoE, a first in Korea. With 32 billion total parameters, it maintains LLM level intelligence, while activating only the 3 billion parameters necessary for inference, significantly improving computational efficiency.
We have successfully internalized a high-efficiency language model optimized for agentic AI that Kakao aims to implement. Additionally, we introduced our proprietary multimodal model, Kanana Omni, which currently holds top benchmark scores in its class in Korea. On February second, we created an orchestration benchmark data set to evaluate the planning and execution capabilities of LLM. This is a unique asset held only by Kakao in Korea and was also accepted by ICLR 2026, one of the world's top three AI conferences. As such, Kakao is focusing on developing models that balance cost and performance while supplementing investment-heavy LLMs through partnerships, steadily evolving on orchestration strategy that organically combines models and services. To showcase next generation AI experiences on devices, we have agreed to begin full-scale global collaboration. Today, I am pleased to announce, for the first time, the strategic, strategic partnership between Kakao and Google.
As a starting point, we are beginning a collaboration with Google Android to further enhance our on-device AI services. By working directly with the Android development team, we expect to maximize the value of data assets within the Kakao ecosystem. Furthermore, as the financial burden of AI infrastructure increases, Kakao is considering ways to strengthen our infrastructure in the most capital efficient manner by optimizing various chip lineups beyond GPUs. Given Kakao's expertise as the only company in Korea capable of effectively utilizing TPUs, we are in discussion with Google Cloud regarding the operation of a meaningful scale of TPU clouds. Lastly, we are beginning a collaboration for the upcoming AI Glass. Kakao intends to form hypothesis on how user experiences can change when Kakao services are integrated into various AI form factors, creating new AI usage experiences.
Following our AI strategy, I would like to discuss TalkBiz, another core growth pillar. Over the past year, KakaoTalk has surpassed service reorganization with the goal of evolving into a super app. As a result, we have seen a qualitative shift in traffic. The time spent on KakaoTalk, which has been stabilizing downward, saw a meaningful rebound and remained steady at around 25 minutes as of December. In particular, the AI services introduced last quarter are creating new user behaviors. Based on our analysis of the change in user time spent over the past 2 months before and after using the services for users for ChatGPT, for Kakao, and Kanana in KakaoTalk, the average daily time spent on KakaoTalk increased by a combined total of approximately 4 minutes.
This is a significant early achievement, demonstrating that AI services are extending the user time spent within KakaoTalk.... compared to past services, I believe this is one of the most meaningful cases in terms of expanding retention. Given the high contribution to retention time we are seeing, we believe the goal of increasing KakaoTalk user retention by 20% is fully achievable if we expand the AI user base this year. Next, regarding our advertising business, the KakaoTalk reorganization is a major turning point that turns Talk display ads to a growth trajectory. The feed type ads, and choose in the feed tab, are blending naturally into content, showing high efficiency in core metrics like clicks and conversions. This was clearly improved as advertisers ROAS. Additionally, with the diversification of formats, demand from new industries is rapidly expanding.
With the influx of small and medium-sized commerce advertisers, we believe Kakao is establishing itself as an essential marketing platform. We view this not as a temporary effect, but as a structural shift driven by both new demands and improved efficiency. Consequently, talk display ad revenue recorded a clearer turnaround with 18% year-on-year growth in the fourth quarter. Last year, our annual consolidated revenue surpassed KRW 8 trillion for the first time, and operating profit also reached a record high of KRW 732 billion. Our annual operating margin reached 9%, a three percentage point improvement year-on-year, clearly reflecting the results of our structural improvements. Based on these achievements, we plan to fully shift our gears towards growth this year. In the short term, we will prove our performance through visible earnings improvements, while simultaneously delivering tangible results regarding Kakao's mid to long-term growth.
We ask for your continued interest and support for Kakao throughout this year. Next, Jaden, our CFO, will present the 2025 fourth quarter and full year financial results.
Hello, this is Jaden Shin, Kakao CFO. I will present the consolidated financial results for the fourth quarter and the full year. In the fourth quarter, as our high margin core business, TalkBiz, entered a full-fledged growth trajectory, we achieved record high quarterly revenue, underpinned by solid growth across the entire platform sector, including pay and mobility. Accordingly, consolidated operating profit came in at KRW 203 billion, exceeding KRW 200 billion for two consecutive quarters, and the operating profit margin expanded to 10%, which is a five percentage point improvement Y-o-Y. We view this earnings improvement as particularly meaningful, as it demonstrates that our realignment of core businesses centered on Talk is generating tangible results. To be specific, Kakao's standalone operating profit in the fourth quarter, comprising ads, commerce and AI, was KRW 128 billion, with an operating margin of 18%.
Excluding operating losses from the AI business, operating profit increased 9% Y-o-Y to KRW 174 billion, with the margin expanding to 24%. Now, turning to the top line. Consolidated revenue for the fourth quarter was KRW 2,133 billion, up 9% Y-o-Y and 3% Q-o-Q. Annual revenue for 2025 grew 3% Y-o-Y to KRW 8,099 billion. Platform revenue in the fourth quarter was KRW 1,223 billion, growing 17% Y-o-Y and 16% Q-o-Q. Within this, revenue for TalkBiz, Kakao's core business, increased 13% Y-o-Y and 17% Q-o-Q to KRW 627 billion.... Breaking this down further, TalkBiz advertising and subscription revenue recorded KRW 373 billion, up 16% Y-o-Y and 15% Q-o-Q.
Of this, TalkBiz advertising revenue, excluding subscription, grew 18% Y-o-Y and 16% Q-o-Q to KRW 305 billion. Starting with Business Message, revenue continued its solid trend, growing 19% Y-o-Y, despite the high base effect from 2024. Following the official launch of Brand Message in quarter four, the customer pool available for advertisers expanded and ad efficiency improved, leading to an increase in total message volume. Consequently, we saw a full-scale inflow of advertisers from new sectors, such as finance. This allowed Business Message to record its highest ever revenue for three consecutive quarters. For display ads, revenue grew 18% Y-o-Y. This was driven by the Talk revamp, which expanded ad inventory in slots where users discover content, as well as by improved user experience and ad advertiser efficiency.
Beyond simply expanding inventory, we established a distribution structure that brings external advertiser demand into Talk inventory through external DSP integration. This expanded advertiser coverage and optimized ad delivery, ensuring that the inventory expansion translated into actual revenue growth. Moving on to commerce, quarter four combined GMV reached KRW 3 trillion for the first time on a quarterly basis, rising 12% Y-o-Y and 17% Q-o-Q. For reference, annual combined commerce GMV grew 6% YOY to KRW 10.6 trillion. Specifically, Talk Gift GMV grew 14% Y-o-Y, reflecting the deferred Chuseok holiday effect from the previous quarter, and maximized peak season performance through expanded year-end promotion. Notably, for Kakao Shopping Festa, our largest annual promotion held in October, we reinforced curation of popular brand items by category and personalized benefits, effectively driving new user inflow and purchase conversion.
As a result, the number of self-purchase users within TalkGift grew 22% YOY, and GMV increased 47%, driving overall growth. Commerce revenue recorded KRW 253 billion, up 8% YOY and 21% QOQ. Revenue growth for commerce was more limited compared to GMV due to the impact of the expanded promotions mentioned earlier. However, we view this strategic marketing execution as an investment to broaden our user base and strengthen the foundation for future commerce growth. Next, platform and other revenue recorded KRW 524 billion, up 30% YOY and 17% QOQ. Starting with mobility, revenue saw double-digit growth YOY, driven by top line expansion in parking and quick services, adding to the stable taxi business. As for pay, it sustained its solid revenue trajectory, backed by balanced growth across all sectors, including payment, finance, and platform services.
KakaoPay's operating profit also achieved a record quarterly high, showing a trend of improvement every quarter since its turnaround in quarter one. Turning to the content business, quarter four revenue was KRW 911 billion, remaining flat YOY and decreasing 11% QOQ. First, story business revenue recorded KRW 192 billion, down 5% YOY and 9% QOQ. Piccoma revenue decreased 6% YOY and 11% QOQ in JPY, attributable to the market slowdown in the Japanese manga sector, coupled with the lack of new blockbuster titles. In this environment, over the past year, Piccoma focused on maximizing marketing efficiency rather than engaging in excessive spending competition. This significantly improved profitability, and as a result, annual operating profit exceeded JPY 10 billion for the first time.
Moving to music, revenue rose 12% Y-o-Y, but dipped 7% Q-o-Q to KRW 525 billion. On a Y-o-Y basis, solid performance in merchandise and licensing continued, increasing the contribution from IP-based businesses. However, revenue declined Q-o-Q as album sales slowed due to seasonal factors and the base effect from major artist activities concentrated in quarter 3. Finally, media revenue recorded KRW 96 billion. While it grew 30% Y-o-Y due to continued expansion of production revenue recognition following the previous quarter, it remained similar Q-o-Q. Now, let's look at operating expenses. Quarter 4 operating expenses were KRW 1,930 billion, up 3% Y-o-Y and 4% Q-o-Q.
Labor costs were flat Y-o-Y, as we maintained a conservative hiring stance, but increased 6% Q-o-Q to KRW 497 billion, due to bonuses at subsidiaries and a rise in incidental labor costs, including social insurance. Marketing expenses recorded KRW 116 billion, up 13% Y-o-Y and 16% Q-o-Q, due to concentrated marketing activities by Kakao and KakaoPay in quarter four. The ratio of marketing expenses to annual consolidated revenue was 4.8%, keeping our promise to stay within the 6% range made at the start of the year. As for revenue-linked expenses, they increased 18% Y-o-Y due to the base effect from the reclassification of annual album production costs to outsourcing fees in the same period last year.
On a Q-o-Q basis, it increased 4% to KRW 768 billion, due to changes in the music business revenue mix. The ratio of revenue-linked expenses to consolidated revenue was maintained at 36% for both quarter four and the full year, consistent with the previous quarter. Outsourcing and infrastructure expenses decreased 13% Y-o-Y, due to the base effect of the account reclassification last year, and decreased 4% Q-o-Q to KRW 250 billion, reflecting the base effect of strong album sales concentrated in quarter three. Amortization expenses decreased 17% Y-o-Y, due to the base effect of one-off bad debt expenses reflected by KakaoPay last year, and decreased 2% Q-o-Q to KRW 204 billion.
Consequently, quarter four consolidated operating profit was KRW 203 billion, with an operating margin of 10%, and on an annual basis, it was KRW 732 billion with an operating margin of 9%. Moving on to non-operating items. Quarter four non-operating loss totaled KRW 243 billion. We recognized impairment losses on goodwill of KRW 128 billion, and impairment losses on intangible assets of KRW 105 billion, with most losses stemming from the content business sector. Regarding corporate tax, the expense was KRW 20 billion in quarter four.
While we recorded a net loss of KRW 39 billion, impacted by the recognition of KRW 20 billion in net income from discontinued operations due to the deconsolidation of Kakao Healthcare, net profit attributable to controlling interest improved by KRW 268 billion, Y-o-Y to KRW 43 billion. However, on an annual basis, driven by expanded operating profit and reduced goodwill impairment, we recorded a net profit of KRW 526 billion, achieving a turnaround Y-o-Y. Net profit attributable to controlling interest improved to KRW 446 billion to KRW 501 billion. Finally, on CapEx. Quarter four CapEx was KRW 195 billion, increasing KRW 87 billion Y-o-Y and KRW 11 billion Q-o-Q.
Annual CapEx totaled KRW 616 billion, an increase of KRW 110 billion YOY, driven by expanded investments in new tangible assets by subsidiaries.
This concludes the presentation of the fourth quarter and full year earnings for 2025. We will now proceed to the Q&A session. As the time is limited, we kindly ask you to limit your questions two per person. Now, Q&A session will begin. Please press star one, that is star and one, if you have any questions. Questions will be taken according to the order you have pressed the number star one. For cancellation, please press star two, that is star and two on your phone. The first question will be provided by Eric Cha from Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead with your question.
Good morning. I have two questions for you today. You have today announced your new partnership with Google. Can you also then give us an update as to what your current existing cooperation with OpenAI is ongoing? Would there be any difference or change going forward or any cannibalization with the current as is partnership with OpenAI? Second question relates to your strategy regarding the Agentic AI. Would like to know whether you are expanding your partnership with outside third-party stakeholders? [Foreign Language]
This is Shina, responding to the first and the second question. First, in terms of our partnership with Google, based on on-device approach, we're focusing on scaling up user experience from the device perspective, and we're testing different Kakao's, different service experience on new form factors as well. From a midterm perspective, we believe that in order to maximize our strength, we wish to build a collaborative framework, generating synergies in specific areas where only Google is good at, in order for us to identify and find AI-driven business opportunities. Now, in terms of our collaboration with OpenAI, we can tell you that our partnership is solid as we continue to work together on B2C AI services based on ChatGPT.
[Foreign Language] ChatGPT for Kakao . So basically, that will help us leverage the world's biggest B2C user base. Also after the rollout of ChatGPT for Kakao, we are focusing on service stabilization. From this year onwards, we will further strengthen the connection between the conversation context of KakaoTalk and ChatGPT, and we will further reinforce collaboration with OpenAI as we go forward.
As such, we will work with Google on device experience and with OpenAI on the domain of AI B2C, establishing a partnership structure without an overlap. Now, so rather than doing everything on our own through such global collaboration, we believe that this strategy really helps to cover the entire AI layer, and at the same time is the best way for us to optimize direct investment. [Foreign Language] As we move forward, we will continuously internalize the lightweight LLM capabilities internally, internally, which is key to Kakao service competitiveness and focus on AI service that our user base can use in their daily lives.
At the same time, to go beyond the uncertainties of the AI age, we are going to bring tangible results, meeting the expectations of people—expectations that people have on Kakao's AI. We will nimbly respond to this coming age by flexibly making use of the off-platform external partnership. [Foreign Language] Responding to the second question on the external expansion of agentic AI system.
Now, this year will be a key year for us in building the agentic AI ecosystem. And as I have mentioned last year, as a CEO, this actually is one of my key tasks as well. By the end of the year, many partners will connect to Kakao's AI platform, agentic AI platform, through Play MCP and Agent Builder by the end of the year. And capitalizing on Kakao's strong context-based moat as the starting point, investors will be able to see the early shape of how the agentic commerce turns into actual services. [Foreign Language]
[Foreign Language] So as I've mentioned at my opening presentation, we are seeing active interaction between users and AI agents taking place inside the commerce domain from the Kanana and Talk beta test. Now, based on this data, we are talking to leading domestic vertical commerce players, and actually not only domestic, but global top tier players have shown interest in joining the ecosystem as well. And so we believe, and currently the discussions are ongoing. So we believe that within the first half of the year, we will be able to onboard at least or actually more than three key players who could play a pivotal role in building the agentic AI ecosystem.
[Foreign Language] AI . These agent features will be rolled out sequentially through Kakao's AI services, and currently such AI service is working as a key customer touch point. This year, we are expecting to see a significant expansion of the user base with high velocity. Also this year will be an important year for us because we will be bringing together the AI service expansion and the agent feature usage. These two factors will come together in driving the service value as well as usability for AI services.
다음 질문 받겠습니다.
Next question, please. [Foreign Language] .
The following question will be presented by June Lee from Daishin Securities. Please go ahead with your question.
What goals do you have in terms of 2026 revenue and profit? If there is guidance, please explain. And the second question is, additionally, I am curious whether the TalkBiz advertising growth rate this year can continue. Last year in the fourth quarter, there were some parts that were rolled back related to the app revision, so whether this year's is also a sustainable growth rate. It would be good if you explain. That's all.
Thank you for taking my question. I have two questions that I would like to ask. Thank you very much for that update on your new business endeavors under AI services. But now I would like to know as to what the target or the guidance is in terms of your top line revenue and profit for 2026. Another question that I have is with regards to your TalkBiz growth estimate going forward, because there was an impact of rollback back in Q4. So I'm just wondering whether you will be able to sustain the growth of your TalkBiz, TalkBiz going forward?
[Foreign Language] Responding to your question on the guidance. In terms of the TalkBiz revenue, basically, we compared to what we had actually planned, we were able to achieve a double-digit growth earlier on in Q3, and in Q4, we were able to report a higher growth rate at 16%. Such steeper growth was driven by structural change that happened in the second half of the year, and we expect that this trend will continue into this year, contributing to consolidated basis, operating profit enhancement.
[Foreign Language] 동시에 카카오는 AI 서비스 이용자 확대와 에이전틱 AI 구현에 집중하는 전략을 통해 올해를 AI 수익화의 원년으로 삼아서 사업 기반을 구축하고, 내년부터는 유의미한 매출을 창출해 나갈 계획입니다.
Now, we will continue to make investments into AI, within the scope that does not undermine profitability, and that will help us attain, investment efficiency. Kakao will focus on expanding the AI service user base and also, at the same time, implement the agentic AI, which I had just previously explained. Now, through this strategy, this year will be the year for us to really build the foundation and basis for AI monetization and business, and we plan to generate meaningful revenue starting next year. [Foreign Language]
[Foreign Language] 콘텐츠 부분에서는 시장 상황을 고려한 마케팅 지출과 사업 구조 효율화를 통해 단기적인 수익성을 안정적으로 관리하는 동시에, 뮤직과 피코마의 IP를 활용한 이차 사업 확장을 통해서 중장기 성장 동력을 단계적으로 확보해 나갈 계획입니다. Now, also with solid growth this year and, as well as improvement in profit for KakaoPay, contributions to the total consolidated basis operating profit, we believe is going to continue to expand. In terms of the content segment, marketing spend and business structure rationalization will take place in full consideration of the market situation and the market backdrop in order for us to manage a short-term, stable, profitability. For music and piccoma, using the IPs, we will expand the derivative business in order to expand mid to longer term growth engine.
[Foreign Language] So all in all, this will be a year for Kakao entering into a growth phase in full swing. So, and start of revenue as well as profit improvement. On this basis, we will be targeting above 10% growth in annual consolidated revenue and OP margin of 10% in 2026.
[Foreign Language] 이어서 올해 성장의 주축인 톡비즈 광고 성장 전략에 대해서 보다 자세히 말씀드리겠습니다. 먼저 비즈니스 메시지는 지난해 출시한 브랜드 메시지의 본격적인 확장을 기반으로 올해 두 자릿수 성장을 목표로 합니다. 브랜드 메시지 출시 이후 광고주들은 톡 채널 구독자뿐만 아니라 브랜드가 직접 보유한 고객 데이터를 기반으로 기존 고객에게 카카오톡을 통한 맞춤형 커뮤니케이션이 가능해졌습니다. 이를 통해서 메시지는 단순한 광고 수단을 넘어서 고객 관계 관리와 재구매를 유도하는 효과적인 툴로 자리잡기 시작했다고 봅니다.
[Foreign Language] 이러한 변화에 힘입어서 광고 효율 개선 사례가 빠르게 축적되고 있고, 브랜드 메시지를 도입하는 광고주도 꾸준히 확대되고 있습니다. 비즈니스 메시지는 지난해 톡비즈 광고 내 최대 매출원으로 성장했음에도 불구하고, 내부적으로는 여전히 두 배 이상 매출이 확대될 수 있는 충분한 성장 여력을 보유하고 있다고 판단합니다.
In terms of our TalkBiz advertisement business going forward on the growth strategy, which is our key pillar of this year's growth. Now, if you take a look at business messaging, we are targeting a double-digit growth based on a ramp up expansion of brand messaging, which was launched last year. Now, after the launch, we are seeing that advertisers are able to serve tailored communication to not only talk channel subscribers, but to their current customer base on whom the brands have their own customer data.
So now these messages are more than just ads, but an effective tool that drives repurchases and that builds relationships with the consumer base. And thanks to this change, we're quickly building best cases in terms of ad efficiency improvement, and more advertisers are adopting brand messaging. Last year, it actually became the biggest revenue model inside the TalkBiz ad, but still we think more than two times expansion is possible.
다음으로 디스플레이 광고에 대해 말씀드리겠습니다. 지난해 사분기 디스플레이 광고의 성장은 지면 확장에 더해서 에드테크 기반으로 광고주 수요 전반을 확대하고, 광고 효율을 개선했던 전략이 맞물려서 만들어낸 성과라고 보고 있습니다. 이러한 선순환 구조가 올해 역시 성과로 이어지면서 연간 광고 성장을 이끄는 핵심 동력이 될 것으로 기대합니다.
Now, moving on to display ad, Q4 last year, on top of the ad inventory slot expansion and advertiser demand growth based on ad tech, basically, it drove the Q4 DA growth and strategies for implementation improving the advertisement efficiency. This virtuous cycle will drive performance and be a key engine for us this year as well.
여기에 더[Foreign Language] 하여 AI가 마케팅 성과를 분석해서 개선 방향을 제시하는 광고주 지원 서비스, Moment AI를 정식 출시함으로써 단순한 외형 성장뿐만 아니라 광고주 캠페인 성과를 개선하는 질적인 성장이 함께 이루어질 것으로 기대하고 있습니다. 하반기부터는 보장형 상품 형태로만 판매되고 있던 커머스 지면의 광고를 KakaoTalk 광고 플랫폼 기반의 오픈 판매 구조로 전환하여 자동 입찰 기반의 성과형 광고를 추가할 예정입니다.
[Foreign Language] 이렇게 되면 톡 내 커머스 지면의 수익화를 본격화할 수 있고, 그리고 현재 거래액 대비 미미한 수준에 머물러 있는 광고 매출 비중을 유의미한 수준까지 끌어올릴 수 있을 것이라 보고 있습니다.
On top of this, we expect that with the official launch of Moment AI, which actually is an advertiser support model, we believe that this will be able to provide analytics on the AI-related marketing performance and recommend improvement to the advertisers, and this we expect will drive a quality-driven growth. Also from the second half of the year, the commerce ad inventory slot, which was only sold based upon the impression basis, will shift and will go through certain changes and adopt an open structure, adopting a bidding process that is on the performance ad.
We believe that this will significantly help, the monetization of the commerce slots inside the talk and will really be able to further increase the contribution made by the advertisement revenue. AI services. Also, with the release of AI services, people or the users are going to become more familiar with its use inside the KakaoTalk platform, and we believe that this will bring us a significant mid to longer term growth potential and expansion into the search domain. Combined by a solid growth of, business messaging as well as display ads being our key pillars behind growth, our TalkBiz advertisement in Q3 of last year actually regained the growth rate of double digits, and our objective is to, on a per annum basis, sustain that trend in 2026.
At the same time, we are going to expand our portfolio from commerce to search ad domain, and we will implement various different initiatives to achieve that mid to long term growth.
The time is up. 마지막 질문 받겠습니다. [Foreign Language]
Due to the time constraint, we will take the final question.
The last question will be presented by Minju Kang from Bernstein. Please go ahead with your question.
This is Minjoo Kang from Bernstein. Two questions: First is, based upon your current business position, would like to understand what your outlook for Q1 is. And also, can you provide some more color on where you stand in terms of ROE? Because last year you communicated your ROE related objective. Where is your ROE at, at this point, and what is your outlook?
[Non-English content]
Now responding to your question on our first quarter outlook, we believe that Q1 is going to be our first milestone, where we start to see tangible results come through based upon the efforts that we've put in last year. More specifically, if you look at our platform business, TalkBiz ad, pay, and mobility across the board, we are expecting a double-digit top line growth supported by margin improvement as well.
In terms of TalkBiz ads, through marketing efficiencies, we are seeing advertisers' budget concentrate mainly around Kakao, and we are seeing a much stronger growth momentum. On the content side, rather than focusing on the short term earnings or performance, we are focusing on realigning the IP lineup and also making the business structure more efficient so that we may regain mid to long term competitive resilience.
[Foreign Lan guage] 비용 측면에서는, 올해부터 본격적인 성장을 준비하는 과정에서 삼각자 인프라비 같은 일부 고정비 성격의 비용이 선반영되면서, 비용과 성과 간의 일부 시차가 나타날 수 있을 것으로 예상합니다.... 따라서 일분기에는 일시적인 변동성이 나타날 수 있지만, 이는 이미 연간 가이던스에 반영된 범위 내의 움직임이고, 연간 목표 달성을 위한 실행은 계획대로 진행되고 있습니다. 이분기부터는 플랫폼 중심의 구조적인 성장과 수익성 개선이 실적에 본격적으로 반영되면서 고정비 부담은 매 분기 빠르게 완화되고, 분기별 이익의 회복 흐름이 나타날 것으로 보고 있습니다.
Now, on the cost side, as we start to ramp up and prepare for a full-fledged growth, certain fixed cost items like depreciation and infrastructure related expenses, there may be a time lag between the expense and the actual outcome that we are able to gain. So in Q1, the profits on a temporary basis may show some variability, but that will still be within the annual guidance that we have previously communicated. So I can assure you that all of the executions are ongoing as planned towards achieving the annual target. Starting the second quarter, we believe that improvement in profitability and structural growth, underpinned by platform mainly, is going to start to emerge, and every quarter we will see that the burden on fixed costs will alleviate quite rapidly, and we will be able to see a recovery trajectory on a quarterly profit basis.
[Foreign Language] 이어서 ROE 현황에 대해 말씀드리겠습니다. 작년 이 자리에서 우선순위에 기반한 자원 배분과 사업 구조 효율화를 통해 재무 건전성을 확보하고, 영업 외 비용의 불확실성을 단계적으로 해소하면서 ROE 개선을 추진하겠다고 말씀드린 바 있습니다.
Moving on to the question on ROE and where we stand. Last year, around this time, we communicated that we would ensure financial stability through business structure efficiency and also priority-based resource allocation, so that we could mitigate in stages the uncertainties that we see on the non-operating side, thereby improving the ROE.
[Foreign Language] 2025년 분기별 이익을 돌아보면, 이분기부터 연결 영업이익 개선이 가시화되기 시작했고, 삼분기에는 역대 최대 분기 영업이익을 달성하였습니다. 이분기와 삼분기에 나타난 영업이익의 개선은 전사적인 비용 효율화 효과가 나타나기 시작한 동시에 뮤직 사업의 매출이 예상치를 상회한 것에 기인했습니다. 반면, 사분기에도 영업이익이 KRW 200 billion을 넘어설 수 있었던 것은 토크 개편 이후 가장 높은 수익성을 보유한 광고 사업에서의 매출 성장이 회복되었기 때문입니다. 그 결과, 2050년 연간 영업이익은 전년 대비 48%로 성장한 KRW 732 billion을 기록했습니다. 아울러, 그동안 단기 순이익에 큰 영향을 주었던 영업권 손상도 대부분 마무리 단계에 접어들면서 영업 외 비용에서의 변동성도 크게 축소되었습니다. 그 결과, 2025년 연간 지배주주 순이익은 전년 동기 대비 KRW 445.6 billion 증가했고, ROE 역시 전년 대비 3.9 percentage points 개선된 4.4%를 기록했습니다.
Now, looking back on quarterly profit for FY 2025, in starting the second quarter, we started gaining more visibility in operating profit improvement, and in Q3 we were able to achieve record high quarterly OP. The improvement that we've seen on operating profit in Q2 and Q3 is due to the across-the-board cost efficiencies that the company was able to achieve, as well as outperformance in our music business top line, which outperformed the estimates that we had. At the same time, in Q4, the reason why we were able to do more than KRW 200 billion in operating profit is because of the recovery of the top line from our advertisement business, which actually has the highest level of profitability following the Talk revamp.
All in all, annual operating profit for 2025 hence actually posted a 48% year-over-year growth, reporting KRW 732 billion. At the same time, the biggest factor that impacted our net income line item was actually the goodwill impairment, and we are almost at the end of that cycle. So we were able to significantly reduce the variability and the volatilities that we've seen on the non-operating accounts. As a result, 2025 net income attributable to controlling interest actually improved or went up by KRW 445.6 billion year-over-year, and ROE improved 3.9 percentage points year-over-year, reporting 4.4%.
[Foreign Language] 올해는 핵심 사업인 광고 부문에서 구조적인 성장이 본격화되는 한편, AI 부문에서는 수익화 기반을 마련하고, 이를 바탕으로 내년부터 손실 규모를 단계적으로 축소해 나갈 것으로 예상합니다. 계열사의 경우, 지배구조 개선 작업과 비용 구조 효율화를 바탕으로 신규 성장 동력을 마련해 가고자 합니다. 이를 통해 올해 역시 건강한 이익의 성장 흐름은 지속될 것으로 예상합니다. 이에 더해, 배당과 자사주를 포함한 다양한 주주환원 수, 주주환원 수단을 활용해 자본 구조의 효율화 역시 검토해 나갈 예정입니다. 지배주주 순이익 성장과 자본 효율화가 동시에 작동하는 구조를 마련하고, 국내 동종 업계 피어와 유사한 수준의 ROE를 중기적 목표로 설정하면서 단계적인 개선을 보여드리고자 최선을 다하겠습니다.
Now, so for this year, we believe that structural and secular growth will start to feed in from our advertisement business, which is our core pillar. And at the same time, in AI side, we will lay the foundation for monetization and capitalization of our capabilities. Supported by these factors, starting next year, we will be able to downsize on the size of the loss that is incurred. In terms of the subsidiaries that we have, we are improving on the governance and also making the cost structure more, more efficient, through which we wish to secure a growth engine for secure new growth engine. And supported by all of these factors, we think that for this year, we will be able to sustain a sound profit uptrend.
On top of this, we will be making different tools under shareholder return, such as dividend payout and share buyback, so that we can make our capital structure much more efficient. So by having a structure where we could actually drive growth at the controlling interest level, as well as making our capital structure much more efficient, we will be able to achieve our midterm ROE target that is commensurate with what our peers are showing. Through these efforts, we are committed to achieving these improvements.
[Foreign Language] 네, 이상으로 카카오 2023년 사분기 및 연간 실적 발표 컨퍼런스 콜을 마무리하겠습니다. 참석해 주신 투자자 여러분, 감사합니다.
This brings us to the end of the fourth quarter and full year 2025 earnings conference call of Kakao. Thank you, investors, for joining.