Wave Cuts Deficit by 33%, Aims to Break Monthly Breakeven Within the Year

Wavve Reports Operating Loss of 79.1 Billion KRW, Down 33% YoY
Investing in Variety and Documentary Content with Lower Costs than Dramas
CEO Lee Taehyun: "ROI Up 10%... Business Structure Improvement"

Online video service (OTT) provider Wavve reduced its deficit by 33% compared to the previous year. Wavve expressed its ambition to surpass the monthly break-even point (BEP) within the year through business structure improvements such as content optimization.

Source=Wavve

On the 22nd, Wavve held its regular shareholders' meeting at the main conference room of its headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, and approved the business report and the 2023 financial statements, among other agenda items.

Wavve reduced its deficit, which had recorded a large operating loss of 117.8 billion KRW due to the market downturn after the endemic in 2022, to 79.1 billion KRW last year, a decrease of about 33%. Total operating revenue was 248 billion KRW, down 25.6 billion KRW from the previous year (2022), but subscription revenue from paid users increased by 14.6 billion KRW to 219.3 billion KRW compared to the previous year.

Wavve is striving to secure business viability amid a content market slump and slowing OTT subscriber growth. In particular, in the original content investment sector, which has a significant impact on the profit and loss structure, Wavve focused on genres such as entertainment, current affairs, and documentaries rather than the more costly drama and film genres. As a result, while reducing losses, it presented popular programs such as the "Piyeo Game" series, the "Nam-ui Yeonae" series, "Sasang Geomjeung Guyeok: The Community," and "Yeonae Nam-mae." Wavve plans to release "Piyeo Game 3," "Nam-ui Yeonae 3," and the travelogue of the group Kara, "Naman Eopseo, Kara," as Wavve Originals.

CEO Lee Tae-hyun, who gave the business report, said, "We improved the contribution margin (ROI), a qualitative growth indicator of the company, by about 10% last year," adding, "From a long-term perspective, we are focusing on business structure improvements such as global business expansion, diversification of business models, enhancement of investment efficiency, and increasing user benefits to secure sustainable profitability for Wavve."

He continued, "Through thorough profitability analysis, we will optimize supply and investment content, accumulate competitiveness, and establish a sustainable management environment by surpassing the monthly break-even point (BEP) within the year."

Wavve plans to gradually expand its global business regions to Europe and Oceania starting this year through its subsidiary Wavve America, which provides OTT services in the Americas. It will also expand partnerships with budget phone (MVNO), paid broadcasting, home appliances, distribution, and in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) sectors, and continue to advance systems to improve user convenience.

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