April 27, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] NHN Entertainment will benefit as regulations over internet board games ease, said Korea Investment and Securities on Jan. 25, maintaining a “buy” recommendation and raising the target price to 93,000 won (US$87.60) from 84,000 won.

The sector will rally following deregulations starting mid-March and although the effect will be insignificant in the short term, the advance will be steady, said analyst Kim Seong-eun.

Revenue from the sector in 2018 will hike 24.8 percent on-year to 180.8 billion won while mobile game division will begin to pick up as it releases new games in the first half, forecast the analyst. 

NHN Entertainment’s earnings in the fourth quarter last year will satisfy market expectations, with 240.2 billion won revenue and 9.6 billion won operating profit, up 2.4 percent and 110.0 percent on-year respectively, said Kim.

By Hwang You-mee (glamazon@heraldcorp.com)