Kakao Games ends ’20 at record-high top and bottom lines, more beat about ‘21

Kakao Games Corp. under Korea’s chat platform giant Kakao Corp., reported record-high earnings for full 2020, with operating income in the fourth quarter jumping 70 percent on year led by mobile game titles.

Kakao Games in a regulatory filing on Monday said its consolidated operating income for the fourth quarter ended December came at 16.6 billion won ($14.8 million), down 21.7 percent on quarter but up 69.3 percent on year. Revenue totaled 142.0 billion won, down 5.7 percent on quarter but up 34.3 percent on year. Its net profit was off 53.4 percent from the previous quarter but reversed from 215.3 billion won loss recorded a year earlier.

For full 2020, the company reported all-time highs for both operating income and revenue. Its operating income nearly doubled to 66.6 billion won, while revenue expanded 26.7 percent to 495.5 billion won.

On Monday, shares in Kakao Games which debuted in September in much fanfare rose 5.5 percent to finish at 55,300 won.

The firm’s performance was mostly driven by mobile games, which gained 37 percent to deliver 248.9 billion won in revenue. The company said Guardian Tales, a mobile role playing game launched in July last year, has been selling well.

Online PC games also did well, generating annual sales of 183.4 billion won, up 13.2 percent on year. Elyon, released in December, has made 10 billion won in revenue in just one month.

Kakao VX, its subsidiary running indoor golf simulator business, also posted record-high revenue of 62.8 billion won. The figure is up 33 percent compared to the previous year.

Kakao Games has expressed confidence in having another strong year in 2021, backed by its packed pipeline of new games. The game company has scheduled to roll out 13 games this year, including 9 new titles. It already has begun taking pre-orders for fashion coordination mobile game Alice Closet.

[ⓒ Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]