[Click eStock] "Dexter, Stable Core Business and Acquisition of Advertising Company... Bright Performance Expected in Second Half"

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jihwan] Kiwoom Securities evaluated on the 17th that Dexter's media business strategy has been strengthened through the acquisition of advertising content company Crema Worldwide, and its core businesses of film production and visual effects (VFX) are stable, expecting favorable performance outlook for the second half of the year.

In June, Dexter decided to acquire Crema Worldwide, an advertising content company it had been collaborating with to strengthen its new media division strategy, and completed the acquisition in the third quarter. Namsoo Lee, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, said, "We expect synergy as Dexter’s existing media content capabilities and VFX technology combine with short-form commercial content production and metaverse-based immersive video joint investments."

He anticipated that completing the virtual studio this year will enable replacing overseas filming with domestic production and allow diversification of production including long-form and short-form content. Along with the favorable domestic advertising market, it is expected that mid- to long-term business effects will be strengthened. Dexter is also showing positive results in its core businesses of film production and VFX, including establishing the virtual studio and long-term post-production contracts with Netflix. The researcher said, "The virtual studio is expected to reduce production costs by about 30% compared to the existing content production process, enabling expansion of production volume and improvement of profitability."

The researcher added, "From the second half of the year, growth is expected through reflecting Crema Worldwide’s performance and VFX orders," and forecasted, "Dexter’s operating profit is expected to increase from around 700 million KRW in the third quarter to 3.7 billion KRW in the fourth quarter." He emphasized, "This improvement trend will strengthen further after next year, and performance visibility will also become more solid."