[Click eStock] "ITCEN Global Expected to Achieve Record Earnings on Robust Gold Trading and Digital Asset Momentum"

On October 13, KB Securities projected that ITCEN Global is expected to achieve record-high performance, driven by robust gold trading and the expansion of its digital asset business.

ITCEN Global, the holding company of the ITCEN Group, has major subsidiaries including ITCEN CTS (formerly Comtec Systems), which handles network integration; ITCEN Entech (formerly Ssangyong Information & Communications), a defense, sports, and overseas SI specialist; and ITCEN PNS (formerly SecuSen). The company also operates a gold trading platform business through Korea Gold Exchange, in which it holds a 67.25% stake.

Im Sang-guk, a researcher at KB Securities, stated, "Third-quarter results this year are expected to exceed expectations, with sales of 1.7 trillion won (up 32.2% year-on-year) and operating profit of 22.2 billion won (up 110.2% year-on-year)," adding, "This is attributed to the significant performance improvement at Korea Gold Exchange, which is estimated to contribute 24 billion won in operating profit."

Due to the nature of its business, strong results from IT subsidiaries are expected in the fourth quarter, and the company is anticipated to achieve record-high annual results this year. Im evaluated, "The subsidiaries' AI system development, cloud services, digital asset platform business, and Web 3.0 are highly attractive future growth drivers."

In particular, the contribution of the gold exchange business stands out. Im explained, "The rise in gold prices has led to increased trading volume, with estimated trades of 9.3 tons in the first quarter, 5.9 tons in the second quarter, and 10.1 tons in the third quarter," adding, "After a slowdown in the second quarter, trading volume has shown sharp growth since September."

This is due to a combination of factors, including interest rate cuts, a weaker dollar, inflation, and expectations for the growth of gold-backed stablecoins, all of which have contributed to the rise in gold prices. In fact, on October 9, the price of gold surpassed $4,000, setting a new all-time high.

Meanwhile, expectations are rising for legislation to establish a digital asset financial ecosystem. As discussions progress on a basic law for digital assets, including the promotion of won-based stablecoins, the related industry is likely to gain momentum.

Im added, "ITCEN Global possesses the highest level of competitiveness as a digital trading platform operator for physical metals," and continued, "In the future, as a leading digital asset issuer and operator in Korea-covering currency- and gold-backed stablecoins and security token offerings-the company's corporate value is expected to be re-evaluated."