(LEAD) NCSOFT Q2 operating profit down 75 pct on weak sales

NCSOFT Corp., a major South Korean game developer, said Monday its operating profit decreased 75 percent from a year earlier on sluggish sales. Operating profit for the April-June period came to 8.8 billion won (US$6.4 million), compared with 35.3 billion won a year ago, and sales fell 16.2 percent on-year to 368.9 billion won, the company said in a regulatory filing. Net profit for the period, however, jumped 132.8 percent on-year to 71.1 billion won thanks to favorable currency exchange rates, according to the company. Market watchers expected NCSOFT to post an operating loss, but the company said it was able to post an operating profit thanks to its cost-cutting efforts, including labor costs. In detail, NCSOFT's mobile game sales dropped 27 percent on-year to 218.2 billion won in the second quarter, and revenue from PC games edged down 2 percent to 86.2 billion won. By region, the company raised 65.2 percent of its total sales in South Korea, 15.4 percent in Asia, and 9.2 percent in North America an d Europe. Source: Yonhap News Agency