[Click eStock] "Mr. Blue, Steady Growth of Webtoons and Momentum for Overseas Game Expansion"

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] Shinhan Financial Investment analyzed on the 30th that Mister Blue's webtoon division is steadily growing, and since its mobile games can additionally expand into overseas markets, growth is expected. No investment opinion or target price was presented.

Regarding the webtoon business, steady performance growth is anticipated. Researcher Kyuri Kim of Shinhan Financial Investment stated, "The domestic webtoon market size is expected to exceed 1 trillion won this year, showing a steady annual growth rate of 12% over the past five years. Mister Blue's platform is also expanding in line with market growth, with platform subscribers expected to increase by 20% to 6 million by the end of 2020. The subscription price increase implemented at the end of last year is also positive for performance." She added, "Sales in 2020 are projected to be 36.7 billion won, a 17% increase compared to the previous year."

For the game division, additional overseas expansion is anticipated. She said, "The mobile game 'EOS Red' was launched in August 2019 and quickly rose to 2nd place in Google Play Store sales rankings, achieving success. In August of this year, it was officially released in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau, marking the start of overseas expansion. Immediately after release, it again ranked 2nd in Google Play Store sales, raising expectations for overseas sales growth."

Researcher Kim emphasized, "This year, the game division's sales are expected to reach 42.8 billion won, a 31% increase from the previous year. Expansion into China and Japan is planned within one year, and an upward revision of the game division's estimates is expected due to the expansion of service regions."