Meritz Securities forecasted on the 10th that Studio Dragon's operating profit will increase this year despite a decrease in sales compared to the previous year.
Studio Dragon recorded consolidated sales of 192.1 billion KRW and operating profit of 21.5 billion KRW in the first quarter of this year. Sales decreased by 9.0% and operating profit decreased by 0.4% compared to the same period last year.
Jisoo Jeong, a researcher at Meritz Securities, explained, "In the first quarter, they aired 'Marry Me Now', 'Sejak, the Enchanted', 'Wedding Impossible', and 'Queen of Tears', which had large production budgets and excellent viewership performance, maintaining last year's scale."
He added, "Even after reflecting the amortization cost of 'Arthdal Chronicles 2', operating profit margin improved due to overseas sales performance of new works," and "Due to the decline in the media industry such as reduced TV channel programming, the content lineup is expected to decrease by more than 6 to 8 titles compared to last year."
He emphasized, "By securing IP, they plan to maximize profitability by activating the distribution structure such as pre-sales before airing and regional sales," and "The Netflix original works released this year will apply new contract terms, which is also positive for profitability improvement."
It is estimated that sales will reach 670.7 billion KRW and operating profit 64.9 billion KRW this year. Sales are expected to decrease by 10.9% and operating profit to increase by 16.2% compared to last year.
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