Gravity Reports First Quarter of 2010 Results and Business Updates


SEOUL, South Korea, June 9, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GRAVITY Co., Ltd. (Nasdaq:GRVY) ("Gravity" or the "Company"), an online game developer and publisher based in South Korea, today announced its unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2010, prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States, and business updates.

FINANCIAL RESULTS FOR THE FIRST QUARTER 2010

Revenues for the first quarter ended March 31, 2010 were KRW 11,119 million (US$ 9,840 thousand), representing a 14.3% decrease from KRW 12,980 million for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2009 ("QoQ") and a 33.0% decrease from KRW 16,607 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2009 ("YoY").

Review of financial results

Revenues

Royalty and licensing fee revenues for the first quarter ended March 31, 2010 were KRW 6,484 million (US$ 5,738 thousand), representing a 11.4% decrease QoQ from KRW 7,318 million and a 40.1% decrease YoY from KRW 10,816 million. The decrease primarily resulted from decreased revenues from Ragnarok Online in the Japanese market and the strengthening of the Korean Won against the Japanese Yen.

Subscription revenue for the first quarter 2010 was KRW 2,435 million (US$ 2,155 thousand), representing a 21.4% decrease QoQ and a 29.9% decrease YoY compared to KRW 3,097 million and KRW 3,475 million, respectively. The decrease was mainly attributable to the decreased revenues from Ragnarok Online in the U.S., Canada and Korea.

Mobile game revenues were KRW 1,839 million (US$ 1,627 thousand) for the first quarter 2010, representing a 5.9% decrease QoQ from KRW 1,954 million and a 0.7% decrease YoY from KRW 1,852 million.

Character merchandising, animation and other revenue were KRW 361 million (US$ 320 thousand) for the first quarter 2010, representing a 40.9% decrease QoQ from KRW 611 million and a 22.2% decrease YoY from KRW 464 million.

Cost of Revenues and Operating Expenses

Cost of revenues were KRW 4,861 million (US$ 4,302 thousand) for the first quarter 2010, representing a 0.9% decrease QoQ from KRW 4,906 million and a 10.4% decrease YoY from KRW 5,427 million. The Company's decreased cost of revenues YoY was primarily attributable to decrease in salaries for our subsidiary in the U.S. and for the headquarters. The decrease in cost of revenues also resulted from decrease in rent expenses of subsidiary in the U.S. due to relocation of the U.S. office in October 2009.

Operating expenses were KRW 4,996 million (US$ 4,421 thousand) for the first quarter 2010, representing a 29.9% decrease QoQ from KRW 7,130 million and a 11.8% decrease YoY from KRW 5,667 million. The decrease in operating expenses YoY was primarily due to decrease in commission paid and increase in other income resulting from reimbursement of withholding tax related to the settlement paid to Softsar Entertainment Inc. The decrease in operating expenses QoQ was mainly attributable to a loss on guarantee payment made in the fourth quarter of 2009 for development of Ice Age Online, due to the low likelihood of recovery as we received a written notice of termination of the license agreement from 20th Century Fox Licensing & Merchandising, the trademark licensor of Ice Age, in November 2009, as well as advertising expenses related to co-hosting Ragnarok World Championship in the fourth quarter of 2009, both of which did not occur in the first quarter of 2010.

Income before income tax expenses and others were KRW 1,512 million (US$ 1,338 thousand) for the first quarter of 2010, which represents a 15.0% increase QoQ from KRW 1,315 million and a 78.4% decrease YoY from KRW 6,997 million.

As a result of the foregoing factors, Gravity recorded a net income attributable to parent company of KRW 381 million (US$ 337 thousand) for the first quarter of 2010 compared to a net loss attributable to parent company of KRW 290 million for the fourth quarter of 2009 and a net income attributable to parent company of KRW 5,253 million for the first quarter of 2009.

The balance of cash and cash equivalents and short-term financial instruments was KRW 66,057 million (US$ 58,458 thousand) as of March 31, 2010.

Note: For convenience purposes only, the KRW amounts have been expressed in the U.S. dollars at the exchange rate of KRW 1,130.00 to US$ 1.00, the noon buying rate in effect on May 14, 2010, as quoted by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

BUSINESS UPDATES

  • Publishing Agreement for H.A.V.E. Online

The Company has entered into a publishing agreement with SK i-media Co., Ltd., an online game developer based in Korea, to publish H.A.V.E. Online, a casual TPS (Third Person Shooter) game, in Korea and Japan.

H.A.V.E. Online is expected to be released in the third quarter of 2010.

About GRAVITY Co., Ltd.

Based in Korea, Gravity is a developer and publisher of online games. Gravity's principal product, Ragnarok Online™, is a popular online game in many markets, including Japan, Taiwan and Thailand, and is currently commercially offered in 59 markets. For more information about Gravity, please visit http://www.gravity.co.kr.

Forward-Looking Statements:

Certain statements in this press release may include, in addition to historical information, "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe-harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act 1995. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, such as "may," "will," "expect," "intend," "estimate," "anticipate," "believe" "project," or "continue" or the negative thereof or other similar words, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. Investors should consider the information contained in our submissions and filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), including our registration statement on Form F-1, as amended, and our annual reports on Form 20-F, together with such other documents that we may submit to or file with the SEC from time to time, on Form 6-K. The forward-looking statements speak only as of this press release and we assume no duty to update them to reflect new, changing or unanticipated events or circumstances.

This release can also be viewed at http://www.pressreleasenetwork.com/newsroom

GRAVITY Co., Ltd.
Consolidated Balance Sheets
         
(In millions of KRW and thousands of US$)        
         
  As of
  31-Dec-09 31-Mar-10
  KRW US$ KRW US$
Assets (audited) (unaudited) (unaudited) (unaudited)
Current assets:        
Cash and cash equivalents 51,333 45,427 35,057 31,024
Short-term financial instruments 16,000 14,159 31,000 27,434
Short-term available-for-sale investments 4,973 4,401 5,034 4,455
Accounts receivable, net 5,907 5,227 5,391 4,771
Other current assets 4,686 4,148 5,825 5,154
Total current assets 82,899 73,362 82,307 72,838
         
Property and equipment, net 2,837 2,511 2,335 2,066
Leasehold and other deposits 1,496 1,324 1,546 1,368
Intangible assets 12,455 11,022 12,707 11,245
Equity method investments 1,100 973 907 803
Other non-current assets 1,651 1,461 1,601 1,417
Total assets 102,438 90,653 101,403 89,737
         
Liabilities and Equity        
Current liabilities:        
Accounts payable 3,205 2,836 2,376 2,102
Deferred revenue 3,750 3,319 3,672 3,249
Other current liabilities 1,293 1,144 1,050 930
Total current liabilities 8,248 7,299 7,098 6,281
Long-term deferred income 9,658 8,547 9,321 8,249
Accrued severance benefits 478 423 507 449
Other non-current liabilities 444 393 435 385
Total liabilities 18,828 16,662 17,361 15,364
Common shares 3,474 3,074 3,474 3,074
Additional paid-in capital 75,395 66,721 75,395 66,721
Retained earnings  1,265 1,119 1,646 1,457
Accumulated other comprehensive income 3,262 2,888 3,288 2,910
Total parent company shareholders' equity 83,396 73,802 83,803 74,162
Non-controlling interest 214 189 239 211
Total equity 83,610 73,991 84,042 74,373
Total liabilities and equity 102,438 90,653 101,403 89,737
* For convenience purposes only, the KRW amounts are expressed in U.S. dollars at the rate of KRW1,130.00 to US$1.00, the noon buying rate in effect on May 14, 2010 as quoted by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.      
 
GRAVITY Co., Ltd.
Consolidated Statements of Operations
 
(In millions of KRW and thousands of US$ except for share and ADS data)
           
      Three Months Ended    
      31-Dec-09  31-Mar-09 31-Mar-10
      (KRW) (US$) (KRW) (US$) (KRW) (US$)
      (unaudited) (unaudited) (unaudited) (unaudited) (unaudited) (unaudited)
Revenues:            
  Online games-subscription revenue 3,097 2,741 3,475 3,075 2,435 2,155
  Online games-royalties and license fees 7,318 6,476 10,816 9,572 6,484 5,738
  Mobile games 1,954 1,729 1,852 1,639 1,839 1,627
  Character merchandising, animation and other revenue 611 541 464 410 361 320
    Total net revenue 12,980 11,487 16,607 14,696 11,119 9,840
                 
Cost of revenue 4,906 4,342 5,427 4,802 4,861 4,302
                 
  Gross profit 8,074 7,145 11,180 9,894 6,258 5,538
                 
Operating expenses:            
  Selling, general and administrative 6,312 5,586 5,316 4,704 4,335 3,836
  Research and development 538 476 351 311 661 585
  Impairment losses on intangible assets 280 248
                 
    Operating income 944 835 5,513 4,879 1,262 1,117
                 
Other income (expenses):            
  Interest income 595 527 737 652 520 460
  Interest expense (5) (4) (15) (13) (5) (5)
  Foreign currency income (losses), net (169)  (150) 763  675 (315) (279)
  Others, net (50) (44) (1) (1) 50 45
                 
Income before income tax expenses and equity loss of joint venture and partnership    1,315  1,164  6,997  6,192  1,512  1,338    
                 
Income tax expenses 962 852 1,405 1,243 947 838
                 
Income before equity loss of related joint venture and partnership   353  312  5,592  4,949  565  500
             
  Equity loss of joint venture and partnership 626 554 321 284 159 141
                 
  Net income (loss) (273) (242) 5,271 4,665 406 359
    LESS: Net income attributable to the non-controlling interest 17 15 18 16 25 22
  Net Income (loss) attributable to parent company (290) (257) 5,253 4,649 381 337
Earnings (loss) per share
- Basic and diluted
(42) (0.04) 756 0.67 55 0.05
Weighted average number of shares outstanding
- Basic and diluted
6,948,900 6,948,900 6,948,900 6,948,900 6,948,900 6,948,900
Earnings (loss) per ADS
- Basic and diluted
(10) (0.01) 189 0.17 14 0.01
Weighted average number of ADSs outstanding
- Basic and diluted
27,795,600 27,795,600 27,795,600 27,795,600 27,795,600 27,795,600
 
* For convenience, the KRW amounts are expressed in U.S. dollars at the rate of KRW1,130.00 to US$1.00, the noon buying rate in effect on May 14, 2010 as quoted by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
 


            

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