ADforus treasury share ratio seen reaching 35.5%…Top-tier KOSDAQ shareholder returns, fast-growi...

[Edaily Reporter Shin Ha-yeon] Independent research firm ValueFinder said on October 1 that ‘ADforus’ is emerging as one of Korea‘s most shareholder-friendly AI advertising platform companies, backed by an intensive shareholder return policy through treasury share purchases and dividends, as well as expanding overseas revenue.

ADforus is an AI-based digital advertising platform company operating ad platform, brand strategy, ad agency and rental businesses. On a 1H26 consolidated basis, revenue breaks down into ad platform 87.6%, brand strategy 8.7%, ad agency 3.3% and rental 0.4%. In June, the company acquired On the Planet and brought it into the group, with its results to be fully reflected from 3Q26.

ADforus treasury share ratio seen reaching 35.5%…Top-tier KOSDAQ shareholder returns, fast-growing overseas AI ad revenue

1H26 consolidated revenue rose 17.8% YoY to KRW 20.3bn. 2Q26 revenue grew 39.9% YoY to KRW 12.5bn, extending top-line growth to four consecutive quarters since listing. 1H26 operating profit, however, fell 46.9% YoY to KRW 1.1bn. This was a temporary effect of one-off costs, including M&A advisory fees and due diligence expenses paid in the course of acquiring On the Planet in June, and profitability is expected to normalise from 3Q26.

Overseas revenue is also gaining traction. 1H26 overseas revenue jumped 130% YoY to KRW 1.5bn, surpassing last year’s full-year overseas revenue (KRW 1.3bn) in just six months.

The company has also launched a series of new AI and global solutions. The ‘Greenp Global SDK’, which supports six languages, lowers integration barriers for overseas publishers with an AI engine that analyses user patterns, preferred networks and ad rates by country. ‘ILLIGEO’, offered through affiliate Iliiad, is a GEO·AIO service that optimises the structure of advertisers‘ content so that it is accurately recognised in generative AI search environments such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Naver AI Briefing.

With On the Planet’s results fully reflected from 3Q26, company-wide top-line growth is expected in 2H26. On the Planet continues to win advertising contracts on the back of its track record, including awards in five categories at the ‘Social i Award 2026’, and this order growth is expected to continue.

Its shareholder return policy also ranks among the strongest in Korea. The company paid its first cash dividend of KRW 250 per share (dividend yield of 3.2%) for FY2025, and treasury shares amounted to 22.2% of total shares outstanding as of end-1H26. In August, it signed an additional KRW 3.0bn treasury share acquisition trust contract, equivalent to 686,498 shares (13.3% of shares outstanding) at the share price at the time of the decision; if fully executed, the treasury share ratio is expected to rise to 35.5%. ADforus would then rank among the top holders of treasury shares on KOSDAQ, and the company is understood to be considering cancellation in line with the mandatory cancellation rule under the amended Commercial Act. With management also buying shares on the market, ADforus is expected to stand out as a model case of shareholder returns.

ValueFinder analyst Lee Choong hun said, “ADforus is running a shareholder return policy that ranks among the best even on KOSDAQ, combining treasury share purchases with dividends.”

He added, “From 3Q26, when On the Planet‘s results are fully reflected, we expect profitability to normalise alongside top-line growth, and as overseas revenue expands and new AI-based solutions deliver results, the mid- to long-term investment appeal will grow further.”

신하연 (summer1@edaily.co.kr)