[Concall] NHN to Launch 'Critical Ops: Reloaded' Next Month (Comprehensive)

CEO Jung Woo-jin "Expanding Payco Merchants to 50,000 by Year-End"
Electronic Document Wallet Service Also Scheduled for Launch

[Asia Economy Reporter Jin-gyu Lee] NHN will launch the mobile first-person shooting game (FPS) 'Critical Ops: Reloaded' in the Asian region next month. Despite the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the first quarter, NHN succeeded in improving its performance due to the expansion of non-face-to-face (untact) culture and plans to accelerate the expansion of its 'Payco' business in the second half of the year.

Jung Woo-jin, CEO of NHN, said during a conference call held after the announcement of the first quarter 2020 earnings on the 8th, "One of the anticipated titles, Critical Ops: Reloaded, is scheduled to be released in major Asian countries in June," adding, "We also plan to launch the mobile game 'Yongbi Bulpae M,' which utilizes the popular intellectual property (IP) 'Yongbi Bulpae,' in the third quarter."

As demand for contactless payments is increasing due to the COVID-19 situation, NHN plans to expand Payco affiliated stores to 50,000 by the end of this year. CEO Jung emphasized, "Orders through Payco Order in the first quarter tripled compared to the previous quarter, and contracts have been completed with 25,000 affiliated stores including Paik’s Coffee, Sulbing, and Caffe Bene," adding, "We plan to expand the number of contracted affiliated stores to 50,000 within the year."

He stated, "Payco is expanding its service areas beyond payments and finance to become a lifestyle-oriented platform by extending services such as coupons, Payco Order, Campus Zone, meal tickets, and public services," and added, "With the influx of new advertisers, coupon advertising revenue in the first quarter recorded a more than threefold increase compared to the previous year."

He also said, "Campus Zone, which is being serviced at 200 universities, has seen delays in significant results due to the impact of online semester openings, but we expect good results starting in the second half of the year," and "The meal ticket service, used by about 700 companies, has surpassed 40,000 users, showing a growth rate nearly three times higher than a year ago."

However, he explained, "Due to COVID-19, the proportion of mobile and online shopping payments in Payco's payment amount has increased, but payments for travel, airlines, and movies have decreased," and "Offline payment amounts through Payco, which had been sluggish, have been showing signs of recovery since the end of April."

Furthermore, he revealed, "To expand public services, we signed a business agreement with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety in March to promote the use of electronic certificates, and we will launch an electronic document wallet service that enables issuance, storage, and submission of electronic certificates such as resident registration abstracts." He added, "Preparations are also underway to secure a license for the MyData business led by the Financial Services Commission."

Meanwhile, NHN achieved both external growth and profitability improvement despite the COVID-19 crisis. NHN's first-quarter sales recorded 394.6 billion KRW, up 6.5% year-on-year, and operating profit increased by 30.2% to 28.3 billion KRW.

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