 |
Photo = Yonhap news |
[Alpha Biz= Kim Sangjin] Hyundai Motor Securities has predicted that NCSoft’s Q4 revenue will amount to 417.6 billion KRW, a 4.6% year-on-year decrease, and that the company will experience an operating loss of 98.9 billion KRW, falling short of the market’s expectations by approximately 40 billion KRW. Despite strong performance from Lineage M, the revenue for Lineage 2M and Lineage W is expected to decrease significantly by 39% and 51%, respectively, leading to a contraction in overall sales.
Hyundai Motor Securities also noted that about 700 employees are expected to take part in voluntary retirement in Q4, incurring a one-off cost of around 100 billion KRW. The firm expects the company to reduce 200 more employees in its overseas subsidiaries in the first half of this year, contributing to the overall goal of saving 1,000 billion KRW in annual labor costs starting from this year.
Looking ahead to 2024, Hyundai Motor Securities anticipates new game releases such as Taektan in the first half, and LLL and Aion 2 in the second half. However, they expect the momentum from new releases to build only later in the year. Other anticipated releases include Blade & Soul 2 in China and Lineage 2M in Southeast Asia, but these are not expected to be major contributors. Additionally, two publishing titles are expected in the second half of the year.
The brokerage forecasts combined revenue from Lineage 2M and Lineage W will fall to 429.4 billion KRW in 2024, a sharp decline of 68.5% compared to 2022. The lack of a second major revenue source and the declining sales from Lineage IP, along with reduced platform diversification, will likely result in lower earnings forecasts despite new game releases and labor cost reductions. They expect NCSoft's annual operating profit for this year to be 245 billion KRW, less than half of the 2022 figure.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim SangJin(letyou@alphabiz.co.kr)
