[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hyowon] THQ announced on the 14th that it achieved an operating profit of 924.8 million KRW on a consolidated basis in the first quarter, marking a successful turnaround.
During the same period, sales reached 5.01444 billion KRW, a 51.18% increase compared to the same period last year, recording double-digit growth. Net profit also turned positive at 1.24832 billion KRW.
Performance growth on a separate basis was also remarkable. Despite the tourism industry being frozen due to COVID-19, THQ's sales grew significantly thanks to the recovery of its existing inbound platform (IP) and the strong performance of the new China Hainan duty-free business. Separate sales reached 4.28922 billion KRW, up 79.29% year-on-year. Operating profit and net profit also turned positive at 596.34 million KRW and 816.21 million KRW, respectively.
Growth in performance is expected not only in the second quarter but also in the second half of the year. With long holidays such as China's Labor Day in May, Mid-Autumn Festival in September, and National Day in October, the expansion of tourists to Hainan is expected to further accelerate the growth of the duty-free business. Additionally, as global vaccination efforts are in full swing, the inbound tourism business, which was a core business in the past, is expected to recover, leading to even steeper growth.
A company official stated, “Despite the difficult conditions in the travel and tourism industry, THQ's first-quarter growth in scale as well as the successful turnaround in profitability is very meaningful,” and added, “Having launched the first signal of a full-scale performance improvement in the first quarter, we plan to focus all our company-wide capabilities to maintain stable growth this year.”
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