South Korean internet portal giant Naver Corp. said Monday its net profit plunged 71.2 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier due to an accounting loss stemming from an economic slowdown.

Its net income reached 43.7 billion won ($33 million) on a consolidated basis in the January-March period from 151.4 billion won during the same period of last year, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Operating profit stood at 330.5 billion won for the first quarter, up 9.5 percent from a year ago. Sales rose 23.6 percent on-year to 2.28 trillion won from 1.85 trillion won.

The earnings fell short of market expectations. The average estimate of net profit by analysts stood at 224.2 billion won, according to a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency.

The company blamed the sharp on-year decrease in net profit on an accounting loss from its investment in its affiliated company amid an economic slowdown and a weak Korean won against the US dollar.

Naver said brisk sales in the content and commerce sectors contributed to the on-year growth in its sales for the three months through March.

Content sales skyrocketed 94 percent to 411.3 billion won over the cited period due to increased global demand for its web content.

Revenue from Naver's commerce business in the first quarter jumped 45.5 percent on-year to 605.9 billion won thanks to added sales from its new US affiliate Poshmark.

The company's flagship search platform, which covers its ad business, saw its sales inch up 0.2 percent on-year to 851.8 billion won.

Sales from the fintech sector also expanded 15.8 percent on-year to 318.2 billion won on increased online shopping through its mobile payment service Naver Pay.

Revenue from its cloud business gained 1.2 percent on-year to 93.2 billion won.

The earnings report was released before the stock market opened. (Yonhap)