Hankom Posts KRW 48.3 Billion in Separate Third-Quarter Sales; AI Revenue Share Tops 30%

Hankom announced its third-quarter separate results on the 12th. The company posted separate third-quarter sales of KRW 48.3 billion, up 9.6% from a year earlier, and separate operating profit of KRW 9.7 billion. Its separate operating margin for the quarter was 20.1%.

Third-quarter consolidated sales rose 9.5% to KRW 92 billion, while consolidated operating profit came to KRW 9.2 billion. The consolidated operating margin for the quarter was 10.0%. Hankom said the sales increase in the quarter was driven by its AI business.

Third-quarter AI revenue reached KRW 14.8 billion, up more than 80% from AI revenue of KRW 8.2 billion in the previous quarter. Cumulative AI revenue for the first three quarters came to KRW 28.3 billion, more than 3 times last year's annual AI revenue of KRW 8.9 billion. Hankom's AI revenue share rose from 13.7% in the first half to 30.7% in the third quarter, more than doubling from the first half and surpassing 30%.

Revenue from new businesses, including AI, rose 67.2% from a year earlier to KRW 30.9 billion. The share of revenue from new businesses was 64.1%. Hankom said that as AI revenue expanded and the AI share rose, the portion of total sales accounted for by new businesses including AI also increased.

The company said AI revenue is rising as products that combine AI are being transitioned based on more than 200,000 existing customers. It also said cases of AI transformation (AX) are increasing in the public and industrial sectors.

Profitability indicators also improved. Cost of sales in the third quarter fell 4.4% from a year earlier, while gross profit rose 14.7% year on year to KRW 37 billion. The gross margin stood at 76.6%, up 3.4 percentage points from a year earlier.

Hankom is preparing to launch Nomadian in the U.S., and it is also preparing to commercialize its agentic OS. The company maintained an operating margin in the 20% range even as it expanded R&D and personnel investment. It also plans to pursue global business based on profits from its core operations.

The company is restructuring its business portfolio around AI. This year, it disposed of its stakes in Hankom Inspace, Thinkfree, and Madxcompany, targeting affiliates with limited synergy with its AI business. One-off costs related to the stake disposals were booked in the third quarter, and non-core affiliates were excluded from consolidation. As a result, the company expects growth in its AI business to be reflected in consolidated results starting next year.

The company plans to channel resources secured through the cleanup of non-core affiliates into Nomadian. At the end of the third quarter, separate-basis cash and cash equivalents, including cash and short-term financial instruments, stood at KRW 121.9 billion, up 69.4% from the end of last year. Consolidated cash and cash equivalents at the end of the third quarter came to KRW 181.5 billion.

Hankom CEO Kim Yeon-soo said the AI revenue share surpassed 30% in the third quarter and the company also maintained an operating margin in the 20% range. He said this confirmed that Hankom's growth engine has shifted to AI. He also said the company is expanding investment ahead of the launch of Nomadian.

Hankom CEO Kim Yeon-soo said the company will concentrate resources secured through the cleanup of non-core affiliates on Nomadian. He added that the company plans to begin expanding overseas AI revenue in earnest with the global launch in March next year.

Source: IT DAILY · Yang Seung-gap
Original: https://www.itdaily.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=242899

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