[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] BrainContents announced on the 25th that it recorded its highest-ever sales of 111.1 billion KRW in consolidated financial statements last year, a 35.6% increase compared to the previous year. Operating profit turned positive during the same period, reaching 9.2 billion KRW.
By business division, the Tax Refund business and Webtoon business segments both led the record performance. A company official stated, “The results of focusing on stabilizing the acquisition after acquiring KTIS, a competitor of Global Tax Free, stood out, and the subsidiary FingerStory also achieved annual sales of 8.1 billion KRW due to strong business performance,” adding, “With the record annual performance of key subsidiaries, BrainContents’ consolidated sales exceeded 100 billion KRW for the first time in history, and both operating profit and operating profit margin reached all-time highs.”
Despite many internal and external adversities last year, such as the US-China trade dispute and worsening Korea-Japan relations, Global Tax Free’s sales and operating profit showed significant growth. Global Tax Free, a subsidiary of BrainContents, recorded sales of 59.8 billion KRW, a 43.9% increase from the previous year, as the number of foreign tourists visiting Korea increased following the acquisition of KTIS’s tax refund business division. Operating profit surged by 895.3% to 6.9 billion KRW, marking the highest performance since its establishment.
Another subsidiary of BrainContents, FingerStory, which operates a webtoon platform, recorded sales of 8.1 billion KRW, a 146.5% increase compared to 3.2 billion KRW in 2018. The webtoon platform ‘Mutoon’ operated by FingerStory attracted members with a high purchase rate through optimized retargeting and actively conducted promotions and events, securing loyal customers. The increase in repurchase rates and entertainment content by improving internal service quality and sourcing high-quality content was identified as the main factor for the sales growth.
A company official explained, “The background for Global Tax Free’s record sales last year was the increased purchasing power due to the improved income of Southeast Asian tourists,” adding, “This year, it is expected to achieve record performance by expanding the number of affiliated stores and increasing the immediate refund limit at post-tax refund stores following the acquisition of KTIS.”
BrainContents also expects synergy effects with Mediphron Divity, a newly acquired bio-listed company specializing in new drug development, and its subsidiary Swanicoco. Based on Mediphron Divity’s technology, it is explained that they will be able to further solidify Swanicoco’s position as the number one natural bio-cosmetics company by developing basic new materials for cosmetics and natural raw materials.
FingerStory plans to open a women-oriented webtoon platform called ‘Qtoon’ in the first half of this year, in addition to the men-oriented webtoon platform ‘Mutoon.’ They are also building and promoting an internal organization capable of producing proprietary content to increase profitability. The goal is to produce more than 10 proprietary contents within this year.
Kang Jinwon, CEO of BrainContents, said, “This year, we plan to create greater results tailored to various situations from the post-tax refund business to the webtoon business,” adding, “In particular, the cosmetics business aims to achieve sales growth with differentiated products that meet customer expectations and expand profits by strengthening cost competitiveness.”
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