Naver's 2013 net more than triples

Naver Corp., South Korea's top Internet portal operator, said Wednesday that its 2013 net profit more than tripled on increased sales from its flagship messenger service LINE and its search advertising business.

Net income amounted to 1.9 trillion won (US$1.76 billion) last year, up 248 percent from the previous year, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Revenue rose 28.5 percent on-year to 2.31 trillion won, and operating profit inched up 0.6 percent to 524.1 billion won, it added.

"An increase in global sales of the messenger service LINE and robust growth of advertising business seemed to boost revenue," the company said.

The free mobile messenger application broke the 200 million download mark worldwide in July last year, only four months after the service drew 150 million global users in April and seven months after attracting 100 million in January last year.

The free messenger service was launched in Japan in June 2011.

The service has reached 231 countries and is offered in 16 languages.

Naver said that it has decided to pay out dividends totaling 21.8 billion won, or 734 won per common share. (Yonhap)