Netmarble, 3 Consecutive Years of Annual Sales Over 2 Trillion Won... "Competitiveness Up with New Releases This Year" (Comprehensive)

[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] Netmarble announced on the 13th that its sales last year reached 2.1755 trillion KRW, and operating profit was 201.7 billion KRW. Netmarble achieved annual sales of 2 trillion KRW for three consecutive years.

Annual sales increased by 7.6%, but operating profit decreased by 16.5%. Regarding this, Kwon Young-sik, CEO of Netmarble, stated, "Last year, the delay in new game releases resulted in performance not being fully reflected."

In the fourth quarter of last year, sales were 551.8 billion KRW, and operating profit was 50.2 billion KRW. Fourth quarter sales increased by 13.3% compared to the same period last year, and operating profit increased by 32.1% year-on-year.

◆Growth in Overseas Sales=Overseas sales accounted for 72% of fourth quarter sales. On an annual basis, overseas sales maintained growth, recording 757.3 billion KRW in 2016, 1.3181 trillion KRW in 2017, 1.4117 trillion KRW in 2018, and 1.4494 trillion KRW in 2019, which is 67% of total sales.

Games such as 'Lineage 2 Revolution', 'Marvel Contest of Champions', 'Cookie Jam (Jam City)', and 'The Seven Deadly Sins: Grand Cross' consistently delivered strong results in the North American and Japanese markets, driving the expansion of overseas sales proportion.

CEO Kwon said, "This year, major new titles including 'A3: Still Alive', scheduled for release in March, 'Seven Knights Revolution', 'Seven Knights 2', and 'The Second Country' are progressing smoothly in development. Existing titles like 'The Seven Deadly Sins', 'Blade & Soul Revolution', and 'Kungya Catch Mind' are also preparing for global launches, which will further strengthen our global competitiveness."

◆Four New Titles to be Released Within the Year=Netmarble revealed the new game release schedule during a conference call following the earnings announcement.

CEO Kwon explained, "'The Seven Deadly Sins: Grand Cross' is set for a global release on March 3rd. Having achieved good results in Japan, the number of pre-registrations globally is exceeding expectations. Especially in Western markets, pre-registration numbers are higher than anticipated, so we are preparing for launch with high expectations."

Additionally, 'Blade & Soul Revolution' is scheduled to be released targeting the Asian market in early Q2.

CEO Kwon added, "We are also preparing new titles utilizing the Seven Knights intellectual property (IP). We plan to release two new titles based on the Seven Knights IP this year. We are planning to hold the NTP (Netmarble Together Press, a corporate performance and business plan announcement event) in the second quarter. We will decide and announce the schedule after monitoring the situation regarding the novel coronavirus."

Meanwhile, Netmarble stated that it still holds 2.5 trillion KRW in liquid assets even after acquiring Coway. Do Gi-wook, Netmarble’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO), said, "Even after completing the acquisition of Coway, when combining Netmarble’s investment assets and cash assets in affiliates, we hold over 2.5 trillion KRW in investment liquidity."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.