FSN, a KOSDAQ-listed company, announced that its consolidated operating profit for the third quarter increased by 138% year-on-year to 2.5 billion KRW, while sales recorded 54.7 billion KRW, maintaining a similar scale despite the economic downturn.
After closing the first half with a loss, FSN achieved a turnaround to profitability in a short period by implementing a rigorous business structure reorganization and establishing an efficient management system, resulting in visible achievements in its marketing and commerce businesses in the third quarter.
FSN had recorded somewhat lackluster performance in the first half due to the overall economic downturn and investments in new businesses. To overcome this, the company actively restructured its business by integrating subsidiaries engaged in similar businesses and changed its management system from the previous autonomous management system to a performance-oriented responsible management system. The company explained that the effects of this system change began to appear in earnest from the third quarter, enabling a rapid turnaround despite the industry recession.
By business segment, the marketing and commerce businesses played the largest role in the strong performance. In the domestic marketing sector, FSN’s core business, operating profit reached 2.3 billion KRW in the third quarter despite the overall advertising market downturn, and on an annual cumulative basis, it nearly reached the break-even point (BEP). The integration of Adqua Interactive and Group IDD, which operated similar businesses, further maximized synergy, and most marketing subsidiaries such as Motherbrain, Recobell, and Next Media Group (NMG) also recorded profits. Since the advertising market generally shows a pattern of low in the first half and high in the second half, the outlook for FSN’s marketing business is expected to remain positive for the rest of the year.
In the commerce business, Boosters achieved its best-ever performance, proving its competitiveness as a brand aggregator. Boosters recorded its highest quarterly sales of 19.6 billion KRW and operating profit of 3.1 billion KRW in the third quarter alone, and its cumulative consolidated sales for the year reached 47.9 billion KRW, already surpassing last year’s full-year performance.
Ringtee, collaborating with Boosters, recorded its highest performance and continued growth, while Lemutong achieved a cumulative sales growth of 467% year-on-year, highlighting the outstanding results of Boosters’ partner companies overall. Boosters, which has been steadily growing and generating profits every year, is expected to see even greater performance increases in the fourth quarter as it adds new partners in various categories such as plant-based collagen brands and prepares to enter the health functional food market.
In the tech sector, platform subsidiary Emotion Global is securing stable sales, and visible results are expected in new business areas starting from the fourth quarter. Notably, Finger Labs’ Web 3.0 content distribution hub, 'Xclusive,' is streaming 'Begins Youth,' a drama based on BTS’s ‘Hwayangyeonhwa,’ and is also involved in discovering, producing, and distributing Web 3.0 content for the popular audition program 'Miss Trot 3.' Fingerbus’s point tech platform 'Meta Club' achieved a total transaction volume of 20 billion KRW in just six months and is gaining momentum by securing partnerships across various categories. In the ad tech field, the mobile ad network platform 'Kauly' has maintained profitability since the second quarter, and Doohub is establishing its position by launching various reward-based advertising platforms. FSN stated that despite continuous investments in the Web 3.0 business, which requires ongoing technological investment, achieving profitability in the third quarter is very encouraging and that tech businesses centered on Web 3.0 are expected to gain further momentum.
Seojeonggyo, CEO of FSN, said, "Although the first half results were sluggish due to the economic recession, continuous investment in new businesses, and various external factors, we have been steadily establishing a system for management efficiency and reorganizing each business structure to maximize performance, enabling a rapid turnaround. In fact, advertising orders in the advertising and marketing sectors have been increasing in the second half, and the new businesses we have actively invested in are also expected to produce tangible results. Going forward, we will build FSN into a company that grows steadily without being shaken by changes in external factors such as the economic situation, while quickly discovering and growing future growth engines."
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