Kakao, the South Korea-based company behind the Kakao Talk messaging app, reported a surge in Q3 profit and strong revenue growth across its advertising, content and commerce platforms.

Its net profit for the quarter leapt nearly threefold year-on-year to KRW39.9 billion ($36.7 million). Revenue grew 32 per cent to KRW515.4 billion, with content sales also up 32 per cent to KRW261.5 billion and ad revenue increasing 19 per cent to KRW151.5 billion. Mobile accounted for 58 per cent of ad revenue in Q3, up from 50 per cent in Q3 2016.

Games, which fall under the content category, saw revenue increase 20 per cent to KRW93.9 billion, with mobile games accounting for 63 per cent of the total.

Its platform business, which includes commercial services and Kakao Pay, posted revenue growth of 55 per cent to KRW102.4 billion.

Operating expenses increased 30 per cent to KRW468 billion, as content fees rose 47 per cent and commission expenses were up 29 per cent.

Global monthly average users (MAUs) of Kakao Talk inched up 1.2 per cent from a year ago to 49.8 million. The Korean Kakao Talk platform accounted for 86 per cent of total MAUs.