Netmarble Corp., a South Korean game developer, said Thursday it swung to a net profit in the first quarter. (Image courtesy of Netmarble)
SEOUL, May 8 (Korea Bizwire) — Netmarble Corp., a South Korean game developer, said Thursday it swung to a net profit in the first quarter on the successful launch of its new title, RF Online Next, and steady sales of its webtoon-based game Solo Leveling: ARISE.
Netmarble’s net profit for the January-March period totaled 80.2 billion won (US$57.3 million), swinging from a loss of 9.9 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.
Operating income for the January-March period was 49.7 billion won, surging from 3.7 billion won a year ago. Sales rose 6.6 percent to 623.9 billion won.
The earnings exceeded market expectations. The average estimate of net profit by analysts stood at 29.1 billion won, according to a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency.
Netmarble attributed its earnings improvement to the successful March launch of RF Online Next and a rebound in sales of Solo Leveling: ARISE.
Per market, North America accounted for 46 percent of all sales, followed by South Korea, Europe and Southeast Asia, with 18 percent, 14 percent and 10 percent, respectively.
The company said operating expenses declined 1.3 percent on-year to 574.2 billion won. Labor costs fell 4.1 percent to 172.1 billion won, but marketing expenses climbed 12.5 percent to 114.2 billion won.
Netmarble said it plans to launch several high-profile titles, including Seven Knights Rebirth in South Korea and Game of Thrones: Kingsroad in Western markets, this month.
(Yonhap)
