Strong Year-Over-Year Revenue Growth of 9.5%; Robust Year-Over-Year Revenue Growth on a Constant Currency Basis of 13.5%
Net Income of $20 Million; Solid Adjusted EBITDA of $28.9 Million Represented a Significant Increase Year-Over-Year
LOS ANGELES, Nov. 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- WEBTOON Entertainment Inc. (Nasdaq: WBTN) ("WEBTOON” or "the Company”), a leading global entertainment company and home to some of the world's largest storytelling platforms, today announced results for its third quarter ending September 30, 2024. More information about this quarter's results can be found in the Company's shareholder letter on the investor relations section of its website.
Third Quarter 2024 Highlights (vs. 3Q 2023)
- Total revenue of $347.9 million grew 9.5% driven by strong growth in Paid Content and Advertising, partially offset by our exposure to weaker foreign currencies.
- Revenue on a constant currency basis was $360.4 million, growing 13.5%, driven by growth across all revenue streams - Paid Content, Advertising and IP Adaptations - and regions.
- Net Income of $20.0 million was primarily due to notably improved gross profit, expansion of interest income on cash assets, and an income tax benefit.
- Adjusted EBITDA of $28.9 million and Adjusted EBITDA Margin of 8.3% both increased from the prior year as a result of strong gross profit and effective cost controls, including a focus on higher returning marketing spend.
- Diluted EPS of $0.15 increased from a loss per share of $0.10 in the prior year.
- Adjusted EPS of $0.22 increased from $0.03 in the prior year.
Kim continued, "Looking ahead, I see significant opportunities to further accelerate growth across WEBTOON, underpinned by our amazing creator community, robust pipeline of up-and-coming entertainment projects, and exciting product improvements. I am confident in our ability to achieve our fourth quarter financial targets and deliver long-term value for our shareholders as we continue powering our global flywheel and executing against our strategic initiatives.”
Fourth Quarter 2024 Outlook
For the fourth quarter 2024, the Company expects:
- Revenue growth on a constant currency basis in the range of 10.3%-13.3%. This represents revenue in the range of $375-$385 million, assuming FX rates remain relatively stable with the end of Q3.
- Adjusted EBITDA in the range of $9-$14 million, representing an Adjusted EBITDA Margin in the range of 2.4%-3.6%.
As previously disclosed, the Company will host a webcast and conference call on November 7, 2024, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time, to discuss the Company's financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2024.
A live webcast of the conference call will be available online at https://ir.webtoon.com/.
For those unable to listen to the live webcast, an archived version will be available at the same location for up to one year.
About WEBTOON Entertainment Inc.
WEBTOON Entertainment Inc. ("WEBTOON”) is a leading global entertainment company and home to some of the world's largest storytelling platforms. As the global leader and pioneer of the mobile webcomic format, WEBTOON has transformed comics and visual storytelling for fans and creators.
With its CANVAS UGC platform empowering anyone to become a creator, and a growing roster of superstar WEBTOON Originals creators and series, WEBTOON's passionate fandoms are the new face of pop culture. WEBTOON adaptations are available on Netflix, Prime Video, Crunchyroll and other screens around the world, and the company's content partners include Discord, HYBE and DC Comics, among many others.
With approximately 170 million monthly active users, WEBTOON's IP & Creator Ecosystem of aligned companies include WEBTOON, Wattpad - the world's leading webnovel platform - Wattpad WEBTOON Studios, Studio N, Studio LICO, WEBTOON Unscrolled, LINE Manga and eBookJapan, among others.
Forward Looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and involves risks, assumptions and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements cover all matters which are not historical facts and include, without limitation, statements or guidance regarding or relating to our future financial position, results of operations and growth, plans and objectives for future capabilities, ability to attract users in both our core and underpenetrated geographies, and other statements concerning the success of our business and strategies. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as "anticipate,” "intend,” "plan,” "goal,” "seek,” "believe,” "project,” "estimate,” "expect,” "strategy,” "future,” "likely,” "may,” "should,” "will” and similar references to future periods. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made. They are not assurances of future performance and are based only on our current beliefs, expectations and assumptions regarding the future of our business, future plans and strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy and other future conditions. Therefore, you should not place undue reliance on any of these forward-looking statements. Although we believe that the forward-looking statements contained in this release are based on reasonable assumptions, you should be aware that many factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: weakness in the economy, market trends, uncertainty and other conditions in the markets in which we operate, and other geopolitical or macroeconomic factors beyond our control; inability to attract, empower, properly support or incentivize our creators; inability to retain, attract and engage with our users; inability to anticipate, understand and appropriately respond to market trends and changing user preferences; failure to retain or increase our paying users; failure to effectively operate in highly competitive markets; inability to innovate and expand our Advertising business; inability to continue to diversify our monetization strategy or to increase revenues from IP Adaptations; failure to control our content-related costs; exposure to significant legal proceedings and regulatory investigations which may result in significant expenses, fines and reputational damage; failure to provide a safe online environment for children; exposure to claims that we violated third parties' intellectual property rights; failure to obtain, maintain, protect or enforce our proprietary and intellectual property rights; rise of conflicts of interests with NAVER Corporation, our majority stockholder; and other risks and uncertainties set forth under the caption "Risk Factors” in our final prospectus filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC”) on June 27, 2024 pursuant to Rule 424(b)(4), in the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2024 filed by the Company with the SEC on August, 12, 2024, and in other filings we make with the SEC in the future.
Additionally, forward-looking statements regarding past trends or activities should not be taken as a representation that such trends or activities will continue in the future. Other than in accordance with our legal or regulatory obligations, we undertake no obligations to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures & Definitions
This release contains certain financial information that is not presented in conformity with U.S. GAAP. These non-GAAP measures include Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA Margin, Adjusted Earnings Per Share (Adjusted EPS), revenue on a constant currency basis and revenue growth on a constant currency basis.
We believe that these non-GAAP measures provide users of the Company's financial information with additional meaningful information to assist in understanding financial results and assessing the Company's performance from period to period. Management believes these measures are important indicators of operations because they exclude items that may not be indicative of our core operating results and provide a better baseline for analyzing trends in our underlying businesses, and they are consistent with how business performance is planned, reported and assessed internally by management and the board of directors of the Company. Our non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered in isolation, or as substitutes for, financial information prepared in accordance with GAAP. Non-GAAP measures have limitations as they do not reflect all the amounts associated with our results of operations as determined in accordance with GAAP, and should only be used to evaluate our results of operations in conjunction with the corresponding or the most directly comparable GAAP measures. We strongly encourage investors and shareholders to review our financial statements and publicly filed reports in their entirety and not to rely on any single financial measure.
A reconciliation is provided at the end of this release for each historical non-GAAP financial measure to the most directly comparable financial measure stated in accordance with U.S. GAAP. We encourage investors and shareholders to review the related U.S. GAAP financial measures and the reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable U.S. GAAP financial measures, and not to rely on any single financial measure to evaluate our business. We do not provide a reconciliation of forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable U.S. GAAP financial measures on a forward-looking basis because we are unable to predict with reasonable certainty or without unreasonable effort non-recurring items that may arise in the future.
Adjusted EBITDA: We define Adjusted EBITDA as net income (loss), adjusted to remove the impact of interest income, interest expense, income tax expense (benefit) and depreciation and amortization, with further adjustments to eliminate the effects of loss on equity method investments, effect of applying the valuation method of fair value through profit or loss, impairment of goodwill, non-cash stock-based compensation and certain other non-recurring costs. Starting with the third quarter of 2024, our calculation of EBITDA has been revised to adjust for interest income in addition to interest expense. In prior periods, we only adjusted for interest expense because interest income amounts were insignificant. Prior comparable periods have now been recast to conform to the current presentation. Likewise, starting with the third quarter of 2024, EBITDA margin is calculated by adjusting for interest income in addition to interest expense and prior comparable periods have been recast to conform to the current presentation.
Adjusted EBITDA Margin: We define Adjusted EBITDA Margin as Adjusted EBITDA divided by revenue.
Adjusted Earnings Per Share (Adjusted EPS): We define Adjusted Earnings Per Share as Earnings Per Share before interest expense, interest income, income tax expense and depreciation and amortization with further adjustments to eliminate the effects of loss on equity method investments, effect of applying the valuation method of fair value through profit or loss, impairment of goodwill, non-cash stock-based compensation and certain other non-recurring costs. We calculate Adjusted Earnings Per Share by making the adjustments described herein from Net Income (Loss) and dividing by basic and diluted weighted average shares of common stock outstanding, respectively, for the applicable period. Similar to Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin, prior comparable periods have been recast to conform to the current presentation of Adjusted EPS.
Revenue on a Constant Currency Basis: We define revenue on a constant currency basis as revenue adjusted to remove the impact of foreign currency rate fluctuations and the impact of deconsolidated and transferred operations. We calculate revenue on a constant currency basis in a given period by applying the average currency exchange rates in the comparable period of the prior year to the local currency revenue in the current period. We calculate revenue on a constant currency basis in each of our revenue streams - Paid Content, Advertising and IP Adaptations - using the same method as laid out herein.
Revenue Growth on a Constant Currency Basis: We define revenue growth on a constant currency basis as period-over-period growth rates of revenue, adjusted to remove the impact of foreign currency rate fluctuations and the impact of deconsolidated and transferred operations. We calculate revenue growth (as a percentage) on a constant currency basis by determining the increase in current period revenue over prior period revenue, where current period foreign currency revenue is translated using prior period average currency exchange rates.
| WEBTOON Entertainment Inc. Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (unaudited) (in thousands of USD, except share and per share data) | ||||||||
| As of | ||||||||
| September 30, 2024 | December 31, 2023 | |||||||
| Assets | ||||||||
| Current assets: | ||||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents | $ | 585,516 | $ | 231,745 | ||||
| Receivables1, net of allowance for credit losses of $3,233 and $1,049 at September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023 respectively | 189,930 | 171,776 | ||||||
| Asset held for sale | - | 6,827 | ||||||
| Other current assets, net2 | 105,959 | 82,479 | ||||||
| Total current assets | 881,404 | 492,827 | ||||||
| Property and equipment, net | 8,333 | 11,692 | ||||||
| Operating lease right-of-use assets | 17,418 | 29,472 | ||||||
| Debt and equity securities | 78,507 | 91,233 | ||||||
| Intangible assets, net | 197,663 | 219,502 | ||||||
| Goodwill, net | 759,672 | 779,176 | ||||||
| Equity method investments | 83,824 | 64,222 | ||||||
| Deferred tax assets | 14,888 | 24,045 | ||||||
| Other non-current assets, net3 | 84,032 | 64,436 | ||||||
| Total assets | $ | 2,125,741 | $ | 1,776,605 | ||||
| Liabilities and equity | ||||||||
| Current liabilities: | ||||||||
| Accounts payable4 | $ | 111,095 | $ | 127,427 | ||||
| Accrued expenses5 | 95,965 | 62,782 | ||||||
| Short-term borrowings and current portion of long-term debt6 | - | 4,252 | ||||||
| Current portion of operating lease liabilities7 | 6,096 | 9,945 | ||||||
| Contract liabilities8 | 107,507 | 76,722 | ||||||
| Income tax payables - corporate tax | 7,179 | 9,459 | ||||||
| Consumption taxes payables | 8,701 | 7,339 | ||||||
| Provisions and defined pension benefits | 4,477 | 5,564 | ||||||
| Other current liabilities | 12,934 | 12,584 | ||||||
| Total current liabilities | 353,953 | 316,074 | ||||||
| Non-current liabilities: | ||||||||
| Long-term operating lease liabilities9 | 11,206 | 19,238 | ||||||
| Defined severance benefits | 20,005 | 23,361 | ||||||
| Deferred tax liabilities | 26,607 | 61,134 | ||||||
| Other non-current liabilities | 3,262 | 9,322 | ||||||
| Total liabilities | $ | 415,032 | $ | 429,129 | ||||
| Commitments and Contingencies | ||||||||
| Redeemable non-controlling interest in subsidiary | $ | 41,849 | $ | 41,429 | ||||
| Stockholders' equity: | ||||||||
| Common stock, $0.0001 par value (2,000,000,000 authorized, 128,313,144 shares and 109,505,150 shares issued and outstanding as of September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively) | $ | 13 | $ | 11 | ||||
| Preferred stock, $0.0001 par value (100,000,000 authorized, no shares and - shares issued and outstanding as of September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively) | - | - | ||||||
| Additional paid-in capital | 2,093,511 | 1,667,246 | ||||||
| Accumulated other comprehensive loss | (64,578 | ) | (54,824 | ) | ||||
| Accumulated deficit | (414,232 | ) | (363,292 | ) | ||||
| Total stockholders' equity attributable to WEBTOON Entertainment Inc. | 1,614,714 | 1,249,141 | ||||||
| Non-controlling interests in consolidated subsidiaries | 54,146 | 56,906 | ||||||
| Total equity | 1,668,860 | 1,306,047 | ||||||
| Total liabilities, redeemable non-controlling interest, and equity | $ | 2,125,741 | $ | 1,776,605 | ||||
- Includes amounts due from related parties of $64,412 and $63,723 as of September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively.
- Includes amounts due from related parties of $14,749 and $- as of September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively.
- Includes amounts due from related parties of $34,502 and $15,876 as of September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively.
- Includes amounts due to related parties of $21,134 and $6,713 as of September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively.
- Includes amounts due to related parties of $7,510 and $- as of September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively.
- Includes amounts due to related parties of $- and as of $3,800 September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively.
- Includes amounts due to related parties of $3,134 and $6,426 as of September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively.
- Includes amounts due to related parties of $- and $16,160 as of September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively.
- Includes amounts due to related parties of $8,927 and $14,852 as of September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively.
| WEBTOON Entertainment Inc. Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss (unaudited) (in thousands of USD, except share and per share data) | ||||||||||||||||
| Three Months Ended | Nine Months Ended | |||||||||||||||
| September 30, 2024 | September 30, 2023 | September 30, 2024 | September 30, 2023 | |||||||||||||
| Revenue1 | $ | 347,915 | $ | 317,764 | $ | 995,631 | $ | 948,684 | ||||||||
| Cost of revenue2 | (256,534 | ) | (245,666 | ) | (738,834 | ) | (729,591 | ) | ||||||||
| Marketing3 | (32,719 | ) | (33,066 | ) | (75,645 | ) | (95,452 | ) | ||||||||
| General and administrative expenses4 | (66,747 | ) | (45,779 | ) | (254,145 | ) | (155,617 | ) | ||||||||
| Operating loss | (8,085 | ) | (6,747 | ) | (72,993 | ) | (31,976 | ) | ||||||||
| Interest income | 6,512 | 913 | 9,790 | 2,288 | ||||||||||||
| Interest expense | - | (18 | ) | (44 | ) | (59 | ) | |||||||||
| Income (loss) on equity method investments, net | (138 | ) | 1,056 | (1,070 | ) | 2,539 | ||||||||||
| Other income (loss), net5 | 11,798 | (721 | ) | 12,644 | (2,773 | ) | ||||||||||
| Income (loss) before income tax | 10,087 | (5,517 | ) | (51,673 | ) | (29,981 | ) | |||||||||
| Income tax benefit (expense) | 9,899 | (5,934 | ) | 1,324 | (19,512 | ) | ||||||||||
| Net income (loss) | 19,986 | (11,451 | ) | (50,349 | ) | (49,493 | ) | |||||||||
| Net income (loss) attributable to WEBTOON Entertainment Inc. | 19,753 | (11,175 | ) | (50,940 | ) | (48,854 | ) | |||||||||
| Net income (loss) attributable to non-controlling interests and redeemable non-controlling interests | 233 | (276 | ) | 591 | (639 | ) | ||||||||||
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