ITCEN Entec posts 27.6 billion won in third-quarter operating profit as subsidiary swings to profit

[Financial News] ITCEN Entec said on the 12th that it recorded cumulative consolidated revenue of 408.5 billion won, operating profit of 27.6 billion won and net profit of 27.8 billion won through the third quarter of this year.
Revenue rose 8.4% and operating profit increased 157.9% from the same period last year. In just three quarters, operating profit exceeded last year's full-year figure of 20.9 billion won.
Profitability also improved significantly. The consolidated operating margin rose to 6.7%, more than double the 2.8% recorded in the same period last year. On a standalone basis, cumulative revenue through the third quarter was 244.2 billion won and operating profit was 24.1 billion won, up 13.5% and 29.0%, respectively, from the same period last year. The operating margin stood at 9.9%.
The improved results came as revenue from the operations business and large-scale projects grew across the board, led by the public sector, and as the company kept selling, general and administrative expenses at the previous year's level.
The return to profitability at subsidiary ITCEN CLOIT also drove the improvement in consolidated results. ITCEN CLOIT recorded cumulative revenue of 158.2 billion won and operating profit of 2.8 billion won through the third quarter, swinging to a profit from an operating loss of 8.6 billion won in the same period last year. As it restructured its business with a focus on profitability and improved project quality and workforce efficiency, its gross profit margin rose from 5.0% to 9.7%. Lower indirect costs also helped cut selling, general and administrative expenses by 23.6%.
Since joining ITCEN Group in June 2020, ITCEN Entec has continued to grow, with both revenue and profit increasing. Its cumulative operating profit through the third quarter of this year—27.6 billion won—is more than four times its full-year operating profit of 6.4 billion won in 2021.
The company is also accelerating efforts to turn its in-house AI technology into businesses and services. It has applied IntelliCen Code, a development support solution based on its proprietary small language model (sLLM), to around 10 projects in the public and financial sectors to boost development productivity. It is also turning the expertise it has built up in those sectors into AI services for external customers. In August, it launched NExQ.cen, an AI solution that helps insurers with actuarial analysis and risk management, and in October it launched AI Essay Coach, an AI learning service for college entrance exam candidates, thereby entering the education SaaS market.
ITCEN CLOIT is expanding its enterprise AI business around its AI agent platform, AgentGo. In September, the group broadened its product lineup by launching AgentGo Guard, an AI security solution designed to guard against threats such as prompt attacks and the leakage of sensitive information. ITCEN Entec is partnering this capability with its customer base in the public and financial sectors to jointly target the business process automation market.
Shin Jang-ho, CEO of ITCEN Entec, said, “Exceeding last year's full-year operating profit in just three quarters is the result of shifting our business structure toward profitability and carefully managing costs since joining the group. We will build on the know-how we have gained in public-sector projects to develop our own AI services, such as NExQ.cen and AI Essay Coach, and continue to improve both growth and profitability.”

[email protected] Yeon Ji-an Reporter