Korean game publishers mixed in Q3 performance on overseas demand

NCSoft [Provided by Maekyung Media Group]

Korean game publishers delivered mixed performance depending on their overseas revenue.

Kospi-listed NCSoft continued robust earnings growth in the third quarter, while Kosdaq-listed Com2Us missed market consensus by a mile.

NCSoft’s consolidated operating profit for the July-September period was 144.4 billion won ($108.7 million), up 50 percent from the same period a year earlier, thanks to stable sales from its global heat game Lineage W, the company said in a regulatory filing on Friday.

The operating profit beat market consensus of 102.7 billion won by 40.7 percent. Sales came to 604.2 billion won, up 20.7 percent from a year ago, but down 4 percent from the previous quarter. Net profit jumped 83 percent to 182.1 billion won.

In contrast, Kosdaq-listed Com2Us reported 1.6 billion won in the quarterly operating profit, down by whopping 87.7 percent from a year ago. The disappointing Q3 performance missed market expectations of 3.7 billion won by 57.3 percent. Sales grew 64.7 percent on year to 186.2 billion won and net profit dwindled by 63.7 percent to 22 billion won.