CJ ENM reports net loss of 165.7 billion won in 2022

[CJ ENM]

CJ ENM reported a net loss of 165.7 billion won ($131.8 million) in 2022, citing falling demand for movie theaters, fewer advertisements in television as primary content consumption veers toward streaming platforms and economic stagnation.

Analysts forecast a 91.9-billion-won net loss for the year, according to FnGuide. Operating profit fell 53.7 percent on-year to 137.4 billion won, also falling short of market expectations of 162.6 billion won. Revenue, on the other hand, jumped 34.9 percent to 4.8 trillion won, beating the market consensus of 4.6 trillion won.

CEO Koo Chang-gun promised to steer company management to profit-based and to control costs, resources and capital investment more tightly. Koo was appointed as the new CEO of the entertainment conglomerate at CJ Group’s annual executive reshuffle last October. Koo was previously the CEO of CJ’s Olive Young.

“Media business takes longer to reflect the change in the market as content production may take up a year to a year and a half,” Koo said at the conference call Thursday. “The majority of the lineups this year were already set before I came onto the scene. While it’s crucial to keep up with the evolving trend, the actual change may take longer than expected to be reflected in the company.”

Operating profit for the fourth quarter plummeted 77.7 percent to 6.6 billion won, while net loss was 86.7 billion won. Quarterly revenue increased 47.1 percent to 1.46 trillion won based on 2021’s fourth quarter.

Tving, 48.85 percent owned by CJ ENM, announced plans to increase its number of subscribers to 5 million by this year. The streaming platform currently retains over 3 million subscribers.

Studio Dragon, 54.38 percent owned by CJ ENM, reported 29.5 percent increase on year to net profit of 50.6 billion won and revenue of 697.9 billion won, an increase of 43.3 percent.

The production house said 2022 marked an all-time-high performance due to global popularity of content such as its series “The Glory,” “Twenty-Five, Twenty-One,” “Our Blues” and “Alchemy of Souls."

The company has a line up of some 35 pieces of content this year, including Netflix series “The Glory Part 2” and Tving original series “Duty After School.”

“Several premium intellectual properties and seasonal series which possess strong fandoms will be released this year,” said Studio Dragon’s CEO Kim Jay-hyun. “Our first American-language project, Apple TV+’s ‘The Big Door Prize,’ is set to be released this spring. Studio Dragon is ready and on the track for a new growth spurt.”

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]