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"We expect to be able to show Kakao's sales being diversified to overseas sources this year," CEO Yeo Min-soo said in a conference call on the company's first-quarter earnings.
"Global content businesses have shown performances surpassing internal goals and market expectations for the past few quarters and we have confidence in these businesses."
He added that the IT giant will make aggressive investments in global marketing and content this year.
Kakao has identified entertainment content as its core source of revenue. In January, it integrated related affiliates KakaoM with KakaoPage to launch the new entity Kakao Entertainment, strengthening the business and making inroads into overseas markets.
Kakao Entertainment controls KakaoPage's intellectual property rights to 8,500 original stories, including webcomics and web-based novels. The business already has a presence in 10 countries including the U.S., Japan and a number of countries in Southeast Asia. KakaoM meanwhile has focused on music and video content production and distribution.
"The infinite expansion capabilities that intellectual property in story content holds has become a point of focus for global content businesses, heightening competition to secure original content," Executive Vice President Bae Jae-hyun said.
"Kakao Entertainment not only holds intellectual property in over 8,000 content items, but has also internalized a value chain in planning, producing and investing in diverse sectors ranging from webcomics and web novels to music and video content. The integrated entity is expected to accelerate growth this year and generate over 1 trillion won in sales," the executive said.
Kakao is also seeking to take its fashion commerce platform overseas. The group is in the process of finalizing the process to acquire Croquis, operator of the fashion shopping platform ZigZag, which has gained popularity among young consumers.
"Given Korea has strength in the fashion and beauty sectors in the global market, we plan for global expansion after the acquisition, along with expanding categories," Bae said. "We anticipate the business capabilities of ZigZag, which is focusing on customers in their 20s and 30s, to create synergy with Kakao's assets in technology and entertainment, in global business expansion."
ZigZag's transactions volume last year amounted to 750 billion won, a 25 percent growth year-on-year. Kakao targets to expand its transaction volume to 1 trillion won and achieve a 70 percent growth in sales this year.
Kakao's commerce business is a fast-growing key pillar of the group, along with its mobility and fintech businesses.
Regarding its first-quarter performance, it reported record quarterly earnings for the three months ended March 31 with quarterly sales amounting to 1.26 trillion won and operating profit totaling 157.5 billion won, growing a respective 45 percent and 79 percent year-on-year.
