CJ ENM’s sales and operating profit rose together in the third quarter.
It is explained that they maintained profitability due to the increase in subscriptions for TVing and the expansion of global competitiveness of premium content. CJ ENM announced on the 7th that sales for the third quarter of this year slightly increased by 1.2% year-on-year to 1.1246 trillion KRW, and operating profit increased by 113.8% compared to the same period last year to 15.8 billion KRW. The media platform segment saw the largest sales growth.
Thanks to strategies like cross-scheduling of premium content such as the drama ‘My Mother’s Friend’s Son’ and the variety show ‘Seo-jin’s Inn 2’, and killer content like the ‘2024 KBO League’ and advertising models (AVOD), TVing attracted more paid subscribers.
As a result, the media platform segment saw its third quarter sales increase by 13.4% year-on-year to 356.5 billion KRW, and operating profit surged by 471.5% to 10.8 billion KRW. Notably, TVing’s monthly active users (MAU) in the third quarter surpassed 7.8 million, closely trailing Netflix’s MAU according to Mobile Index.
Particularly, revenue reached 121.3 billion KRW, up 55.6% from 78 billion KRW in the previous third quarter. In contrast, the film and drama division saw sales drop by 22.9% year-on-year to 251.6 billion KRW due to delays in delivery from Fifth Season, with an operating loss reported at 6 billion KRW.
Among these, the film ‘Veteran 2’, which surpassed 7.5 million cumulative viewers, exceeded its break-even point and performed well.
Additionally, production revenue was strengthened for killer content like Netflix original ‘War’, and TVing original ‘Woo Shi Nikyung’.
Furthermore, the simultaneous global platform airing of hit IP dramas like ‘Don’t Want to Lose’ and ‘Seo-jin’s Inn 2’, along with the continuous expansion of foreign package sales of content libraries, helped mitigate losses. The music division maintained steady growth, spurred by the success of their own artists, achieving sales of 182.7 billion KRW and an operating profit of 2.4 billion KRW.
The fifth generation representative boy group ZeroBaseOne drove growth in the music business with the release of their fourth mini-album (first week sales of 1,112,000 copies).
The release of Japanese girl group MIAI’s second mini-album (first week sales of 249,000 copies), along with the global concert expansion of INI, ZeroBaseOne, and ATEEZ, contributed to revenue growth. The commerce segment achieved sales of 333.8 billion KRW and an operating profit of 9.2 billion KRW, driven by the strengthening of mobile live commerce, attracting new app customers and an increase in new brands, showing profit growth for three consecutive quarters.
Compared to the same period last year, the mobile live commerce transaction value increased by 88.6%, and the number of newly attracted brands rose by 164%.
In September, the average daily active users (DAU) for the mobile app reached the highest number ever recorded for September, with premium beauty products, fashion, health foods, and living products showing strong sales. A CJ ENM representative stated, “With the continued increase in paid subscriptions for TVing, profitability is improving, driven by the strengthening of the global influence of premium content IP and the success of top artists. We aim to enhance platform competitiveness and maximize profitability through attractive content insights in the fourth quarter.” Jang Joo-yeon, reporter jang3@edaily.co.kr
