Daum Communications Corp., the country's second-most visited internet portal, reported 124.7 billion won ($133.4 million) in first quarter consolidated revenue, an increase of 39.8 percent from a year ago.

It saw consolidated operating loss decline by 16.9 percent quarter-on-quarter to 3.9 billion won, while consolidated EBITDA rose to 6.6 billion won.

Daum's first quarter earnings are more or less similar with market expectations, although estimates are based on only the headquarters' earnings, said Shim Jun-bo, analyst at Goodmorning Shinhan Securities Co.

Revenue from its financial units, including Daum Direct Auto Insurance and Daum FN, increased 81.8 percent from a year ago to 52.5 billion won, on the back of enhanced brand image, the company said.

Daum Direct Auto Insurance's market share rose from 12.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2005 to 14.6 percent in the first quarter, closing the gap with the top player Kyobo Auto Insurance.

Daum's U.S. subsidiary Lycos Inc. sold its financial information unit Quote.com to U.S.-based Interactive Data Corp. for $30 million, in February this year.

Daum's commerce unit, including Daum Onket, d&shop, and Tour Express, recorded 23.7 billion won in first quarter revenue, increased by 64.3 percent from a year ago. The commerce unit recorded gross merchandise sales of 231 billion won, an increase by 58.3 percent from a year ago.

Daum's banner ads, which have stagnated since the second quarter of 2005, recovered growth momentum with revenue increase of 6 percent from the fourth quarter of last year.

"The number of queries in the Daum search engine has increased 24.4 percent compared to the last quarter. It is an encouraging sign that can lead to revenue increase in the future," analyst Shim said.

The media company is focusing on marketing before the 2006 World Cup finals. Its marketing costs in the first quarter amounted to 3.5 billion won, according to the company's chief financial officer Kim Dong-il during today's conference call.

"Marketing costs are expected to double in the second quarter, due to the planned heavy spending around the World Cup period," said Seok Jong-hoon, head of Daum Communications' Media Division, during the conference call.

This is cache, read story here