(LEAD) Kakao Pay turns to black in Q2

Kakao Pay Corp., the online payment unit of South Korean social media giant Kakao Corp., said Tuesday it swung to a net profit in the second quarter from a net loss a year earlier thanks to higher sales. Net profit for the three months ending in June came to 626 million won (US$455,372), compared with a loss of 6.2 billion won a year ago, the company said in a regulatory filing. Its sales rose 24.6 percent to 185.5 billion won during the period, and its operating loss narrowed to 7.3 billion won from 12.6 billion won a year earlier. The company said its sales increased in the three-month period through June, driven by the growth of its offline and overseas payment businesses, as well as its financial services business. Revenue from the payment service unit climbed 12 percent on-year to 121.4 billion won in the second quarter, and sales from the financial services unit jumped 60 percent to 55.2 billion won. Kakao Pay's securities subsidiary saw the combined value of stock transactions soar 74 percent on- year to 12 trillion won, with the number of overseas stock market transactions, in particular, shooting up 256 percent. Its insurance subsidiary also attracted more than 1.5 million subscribers for its travelers' insurance, the company said. Source: Yonhap News Agency