[Click eStock] "Polaris Office, High Growth Expected with Naver Whale Book"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hyowon] YuHwa Securities analyzed Polaris Office on the 21st, stating, “Sales growth of the company is expected in the future through collaboration with Naver,” and “A turnaround to profitability is expected this year, with significant profit growth anticipated next year.” No investment opinion or target price was provided.

Yu Seungjun, a researcher at YuHwa Securities, said, “The strength of Polaris Office lies in its excellent document compatibility and the ability to view and edit documents on the web without installing separate programs,” adding, “Leveraging these strengths, they have signed an MOU with Naver and plan to target the educational market.”

According to YuHwa Securities, Naver is promoting the supply of Whale Book to education offices. Currently, Naver has agreements with a total of 10 city and provincial education offices to build smart education environments using the Whale Space platform. Whale Book is optimized for Whale Space, making it highly likely to be adopted by the city and provincial education offices.

Researcher Yu stated, “Polaris Office will be installed on Whale Book and receive software usage fees, which are expected to be around 3 to 5 billion KRW annually, and sales growth through an increase in subscribers is also anticipated,” adding, “Polaris Office is scheduled to be pre-installed and have brand exposure on the Whale Browser, which is expected to attract subscribers, who will then contribute to sales growth by watching advertisements and converting to paid users.”

He continued, “As a software company, apart from labor costs, no special additional expenses are incurred, so most of the sales increase will lead to operating profit growth, which is expected to positively impact profitability,” and forecasted, “This year’s performance is expected to turn profitable due to sales growth of Polaris Office and restructuring effects in the gaming division, with even greater performance growth expected next year.”

Furthermore, he explained, “This is because OTT and shopping malls will be added to the Polaris Office platform starting in November, and sales growth is expected through collaboration with Naver,” adding, “Additionally, they are currently preparing NFT platforms and metaverse businesses, which are expected to enter a full-fledged growth trajectory.”