Yello Mobile announced its earnings for last year on March 31. Sales increased, but it remained in the red.
At a press conference, CEO Lee Sang-hyuk gave a detailed explanation about the company's corporate value that has stirred much controversy ahead of its scheduled IPO. He stressed that the giant venture’s future performance estimates are not bubbles. However, opinion is still divided about its aggressive moves.
Last year, Yello Mobile increased its sales by 968 percent year-on-year to 96.3 billion won (US$87.3 million), with Q4 sales recording a quarter-on-quarter growth of 133 percent to 51.9 billion won (US$47.0 million). Nevertheless, it recorded 8.1 billion won (US$7.3 million) in operating losses and 13.2 billion won (US$12.0 million) in net losses. It explained that the losses are attributable to the TV ads for Coocha in the second half. Yello Mobile is an association of 80 or so startups providing mobile platform services, and the announced earnings cover about 40 of them.
“The pro forma sales of the consolidated subsidiaries were 261.3 billion won [US$236.9 million] last year, and the amount will increase if the companies we are negotiating with for additional acquisitions are taken into account,” CFO Lee Sang-hoon added, continuing, “We are looking forward to more rapid growth and substantial profits this year, when the performances of larger firms such as Adqua and JTNet are reflected.”
The association said that it aims at 3 trillion won (US$2.7 billion) in sales and 1 trillion (US$906 million) in operating profits by 2019, suggesting 600 billion won (US$544 million) and 70 billion won (US$63 million) in sales and EBITDA for this year, respectively. The CEO mentioned that he focuses more on the fundamentals of the business than on the timing or value of the IPO, and may opt for NASDAQ ahead of KOSDAQ if that gate opens first.