Nexon Releases Earnings for Second Quarter 2021

New Creative Leadership to Energize Blockbuster Dungeon&Fighter Franchise

Development Teams Preparing for Launch of New Titles

Enriched Pipeline of New Games and Initiatives Position Nexon For Dramatic Growth

TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--NEXON Co., Ltd. (Nexon) (3659.TO), a global leader in Virtual Worlds, today announced the financial results for its second quarter ended June 30, 2021.

“Nexon creative teams are improving existing games and polishing new titles for release on multiple platforms in multiple markets,” said Owen Mahoney, President and CEO of Nexon. “Our strategy includes new games in our development pipeline and bold initiatives to unlock the enormous untapped value in our global IP. If successful, any one of these projects has the potential to dramatically change Nexon’s trajectory and bring step-function improvements to our long-term revenue and profitability.”

Second Quarter 2021 Highlights:

• Nexon Group revenues were within the range of our outlook at ¥56.0 billion, down 13% year-over-year on an as-reported basis and down 21% year-over-year on a constant currency basis¹.
• On a platform basis, both PC² and mobile revenues were in the expected range.
• Operating income was ¥15.4 billion which was in the range of our outlook, while costs including marketing costs, HR costs, and outsourcing costs were slightly lower than planned.
• Net income³ was ¥9.0 billion yen, slightly below our expectations. Nexon recognized a revaluation loss of ¥4.5 billion due to movements in the market price of bitcoin and recognized revaluation gain from fund investments and dividend income as finance income.
• In Korea, revenues were in the range of our outlook as the stronger-than-expected performance of The Kingdom of the Winds: Yeon was offset by the lower-than-expected performance of MapleStory. On a year-over-year basis, revenues were flat on an as-reported basis and decreased by 10% on a constant currency basis¹.
• Also in Korea, FIFA ONLINE 4’s⁴ PC and mobile combined revenues grew year-over-year due to well-received sales promotions. And Sudden Attack continued to perform well with revenue growth of 136% while revenues from MapleStory and Dungeon&Fighter decreased year-over-year.
• In China, second quarter revenues were slightly below our outlook. On a year-over-year basis, revenues decreased by 30% on an as-reported basis and by 37% on a constant currency basis¹.
• In Japan, revenues were below our outlook due to MapleStory M and Blue Archive. On a year-over-year basis, TRAHA and MapleStory M’s revenues decreased respectively.
• Revenues from North America and Europe were within our outlook but decreased year-over-year due to Choices⁵.
• Revenues from Rest of World⁶ exceeded our expectations driven by MapleStory and MapleStory M but decreased year-over-year due to KartRider Rush+ and V4.
• In 2020, Nexon’s board of directors authorized investments of up to US$1.5 billion in global entertainment companies that share Nexon’s commitment to sustaining global IP. As of June 30, 2021, 72% or ¥ 117.8 billion (US$1.1 billion) has been invested and Nexon has recorded an unrealized gain of ¥27.6 billion⁷ (US$254.6 million⁷) under other comprehensive income.

Other Highlights

• On August 2, Nexon announced that veteran studio leader Myeong-jin Yun has taken responsibility for global oversight of the popular PC Dungeon&Fighter. Mr. Yun served as development director on the franchise from 2014-17, when new registrations grew by 200% and the game captured record market share in PC cafes in Korea. He is now working on strategies to shake up the Dungeon&Fighter content plan and re-engage players.
• In July, Nexon appointed Nick van Dyk as Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer responsible for global strategic planning, M&A, corporate development and partnerships. Mr. van Dyk also serves as President of Nexon Film and Television, a newly-created division focused on expanding the reach and value of Nexon’s global IP.
• Nexon’s Embark Studios in Stockholm, Sweden is currently tuning its first game ahead of a public beta.
• On August 5, Nexon Korea showcased a 12-game development initiative for enriching our content pipeline. Games in development include PROJECT MAGNUM⁸, Project HP⁸, MABINOGI MOBILE, KartRider: Drift plus eight additional games. Some of the new titles will be developed as potential global blockbusters, others are new ideas to be developed quickly with player input.

Third Quarter 2021 Outlook

• Expect group revenues to be in the range of ¥65.4 to ¥71.5 billion, representing a 18% to 10% decrease year-over-year on an as-reported basis and a 24% to 17% decrease year-over-year on a constant currency basis¹
• Expect operating income to be in the range of ¥20.1 to ¥25.3 billion
• Expect net income³ to be in the range of ¥15.0 to ¥18.9 billion
• Forex sensitivity⁹: Every one Japanese yen move against the U.S. dollar would have the following impact on our financials for Q3 2021
  – Revenues: ¥0.61 billion
  – Operating Income: ¥0.23 billion

Conference Call (Japanese & English)

Nexon management will host a conference call for investors, analysts and the media to discuss the company’s financial results and outlook. The conference call will be held at 5:00 p.m. JST / 4:00 a.m. EDT, and will be simultaneously conducted in Japanese and English. It will consist of brief remarks made by the management team followed by a Q&A session. Q&A session will be conducted with consecutive translations.

Time: August 11, 2021 at 5:00 p.m. JST / 4:00 a.m. EDT (planned)

Pre-registration Required

Please register in advance from the link below. Participant PIN and Security Code will be provided upon registration. Please click here to reach the registration page.

Audio Archive and Transcript

An audio archive and a transcript will be available on Nexon’s Investor Relations website at http://ir.nexon.co.jp/en/ after the earnings conference call.

This press release is prepared to offer reference information about Nexon to investors and is intended to generally provide investors and analysts with financial and operational information about Nexon, but not to solicit or recommend any sale or purchase of stock or other securities of Nexon.

About NEXON Co., Ltd. http://company.nexon.co.jp/en/

Founded in 1994, NEXON Co., Ltd. (Nexon) (3659.TO) is a company engaged in the production, development and operation of online games and Virtual Worlds. First listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in December 2011, Nexon was placed on JPX400 in 2015 and added to the Nikkei Stock Index 300 in 2017. In 2020, Nexon was added to the Nikkei 225. Nexon currently has more than 50 live games on multiple platforms including mobile and available in more than 190 countries. Major game franchises include MapleStory, KartRider and Dungeon&Fighter.

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^1	Constant currency is a non-GAAP measure used to show performance unaffected by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. Constant-currency basis amounts are calculated using the average foreign currency exchange rates for the comparable period in the prior year and applied to the current period.
^2	PC revenues include other revenues besides PC online games and mobile games.
^3	Net income refers to net income attributable to owners of the parent.
^4	Official titles are EA SPORTS™ FIFA ONLINE 4 (PC) and EA SPORTS™ FIFA ONLINE 4 M (mobile).
^5	Official title is Choices: Stories You Play.
^6	“Rest of World” includes other Asian countries as well as Central and South American countries.
^7	Represents the difference between the acquisition costs and the market value of Nexon group’s equity investments; does not reflect the impact of deferred tax liabilities on unrealized gains.
^8	Working title
^9	In most situations, the exchange rates of both the South Korean Won and the Chinese Yuan are linked to the U.S. dollar. For simplicity, forex sensitivity is calculated based on the assumption that Korean Won and Chinese Yuan move similarly against Japanese yen when there is an exchange rate movement in US. dollar and Japanese yen.