Daum swings to loss in Q1 on lower revenue

(ATTN: ADDS stock price in 4th para; ADDs more info in last two paras)
SEOUL, April 30 (Yonhap) -- Daum Communications Corp., South Korea's
second-largest Internet portal operator, said Thursday that it swung to a loss in
the first quarter on lower revenue.
Net loss came to 4 billion won (US$3.03 million) in the January-March period, a
turnaround from a net profit of 33 billion won the previous year, the company
said in a regulatory filing.
Sales dropped 10 percent to 50.7 billion won in the first quarter, and operating
profit fell 63.9 percent to 3.6 billion won due to a drop in advertising revenue,
the company said.
Shares of Daum Communications closed at 35,200 won on the main bourse, up 3.23
percent from the previous session.
The company said its online shopping unit is expected to continue to grow due to
increasing demand, despite the economic downturn that has affected banner sales,
sponsor links and other advertisements.
Sales of its online retail business amounted to 7.7 billion won in the first
quarter, up 173.9 percent from a year earlier.
ygkim@yna.co.kr
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