Operating income reached 128.3 billion won during the cited period, also marking a decrease of 48.8 percent from the year before. Sales, meanwhile, totaled 1.63 trillion won, representing an 18.6 percent increase compared with the year before, Naver said.

Naver said the sharp fall in its bottom line is due to one-time costs, including its Tokyo-based messaging app giant affiliate Line Corp.'s massive reward campaign, in an aim to increase usage of its new Line Pay service.

Revenue from its business platform increased 17.1 percent on-year to 715.9 billion won in the second quarter, helped by artificial intelligence-based shopping searches, the company said.

Naver said revenue from its platform business, including its messenger Line, surged 21.8 percent on-year to 591.8 billion won during the same period.

Sales from its IT platform business, which covers Naver Pay and cloud computing services, also jumped 22.6 percent on-year to 105.9 billion won.

Revenue from its advertisement business was up 12 percent on-year to 166.6 billion won in the second quarter.

Shares in Naver were changing hands at 130,500 won as of 10:00 a.m., up 5.67 percent from the previous session. The second-quarter report was announced before the market opened Thursday. (Yonhap)