Innocean’s Q3 OP jumps 12.4% on solid overseas performance

Innocean CI

Innocean Inc., a South Korean marketing and communications company, saw its third-quarter operating profit grow by double digits, driven by strong overseas performance.

Innocean said in a disclosure on Wednesday that it achieved a gross profit of 237.9 billion won ($169.78 million) in the third quarter, up 12.5 percent from a year ago.

Its operating profit reached 45.9 billion won, up 12.4 percent.

However, net income fell by 24.5 percent on year to 32.7 billion won during the July-September period.

Innocean’s operating profit exceeded the brokerage consensus of 42.4 billion won compiled by market data tracker FnGuide Inc.

The company cited strong overseas performance as the key driver of its operating profit growth in the third quarter.

It noted that its U.S. operations grew by securing non-affiliated advertisers, while its subsidiary Wellcom Group added new advertisers and increased revenue from existing advertisers, contributing to overall performance growth.

Innocean’s revenue by region for the third quarter was 56 percent in the Americas, 21 percent in Korea, 12 percent in Europe, 9 percent in emerging markets, and 2 percent in China.

Its gross profit in the Americas, in particular, grew by 18 percent on year to 133.6 billion won, with operating profit increasing by 33 percent to 33.3 billion won.

The company said that the decrease in net income comes on the reverse effect of last year‘s temporary reduction in corporate tax expenses.

“(The third quarter growth) was driven by stable affiliated volumes and new non-affiliated business in the Americas despite a challenging advertising market,” said an Innocean official.

Innocean, in the meantime, shared its growth strategies such as enhancing the customer experience (CX) sector, building full coverage of digital services, continuing to seek M&A investments, and expanding its global network by establishing overseas bases.