Artificial Intelligence (AI) service specialist ESTsoft (047560, CEO Jung Sang Won) announced through a preliminary disclosure on the 11th that it achieved a 5.1% year-on-year growth by recording 45.8 billion won in sales based on the consolidated financial statements under K-IFRS in the first half of 2022.

Despite a temporary slowdown in growth in portal services and gaming businesses, ESTsoft explained that it was able to continue its growth in size as new businesses such as virtual human-related AI new ventures and AR-based commerce (ROUNZ), and asset management companies continued to maintain a high growth trend. These new businesses recorded 7.5 billion won in sales in the first half of the year, increasing their share to 16.4% of the total sales.

In particular, the AI new business laid the foundation for a stable revenue structure by seeing significant growth in sales in the second quarter of this year compared to the same period last year and the previous quarter, and added that visible results are expected to be produced from the second half of the year starting with the various IPs and MOUs secured since 2021.

In fact, ESTsoft has signed a number of contracts and MOUs related to virtual humans in various fields such as education, broadcasting, and entertainment with the debut of CLASS:y through MBC After School Excitement in the first half of this year, SELBYMUSIC Music Flat, n.CH Entertainment, YBM, etc., and is expecting to see the financial results reflected from the second half of the year.

However, as for the reason for the decrease in profitability in the first half of 2022, it was announced that profitability temporarily declined due to factors such as increased personnel expenses for securing development personnel reflected across the IT industry, increased number of employees and stock option grants to all employees, and increased costs due to enhanced welfare policies.

CEO Jung Sang Won of ESTsoft said, "We will continue to invest in the full-scale expansion of key new businesses such as virtual humans and commerce, based on the stable cash cow of the whole group,” and “From the second half of this year, the performance of AI-related new businesses will become visible, and profitability is also expected to increase,” he said.

Meanwhile, detailed information related to the preliminary results for the second quarter of 2022 of ESTsoft can be checked at the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system (http://dart.fss.or.kr).