Press Release: WEBTOON Entertainment Inc. Reports First Quarter 2025 Financial Results

Dow Jones
May 14

WEBTOON Entertainment Inc. Reports First Quarter 2025 Financial Results

Delivered Revenue and Adjusted EBITDA in the top end of Guidance Range

First Quarter Revenue Growth Roughly Flat Year-Over-Year; Revenue Growth on a Constant Currency Basis of 5.3%

Net Loss of $22.0 Million; Adjusted EBITDA of $4.1 Million

Strong Balance Sheet With Cash and Cash Equivalents of Approximately $550.1 Million and No Debt

LOS ANGELES, May 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- WEBTOON Entertainment Inc. (Nasdaq: WBTN) ("WEBTOON Entertainment" or "the Company"), a leading global entertainment company and home to some of the world's largest storytelling platforms, today announced results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2025. More information about these results can be found in the Company's shareholder letter on the investor relations section of its website.

First Quarter 2025 Highlights (vs. First Quarter 2024)

   -- Total revenue of $325.7 million declined 0.3%, driven by decline in Paid 
      Content, partially offset by growth in Advertising and IP Adaptations. 
 
   -- Revenue on a constant currency basis was $343.8 million, growing 5.3%, 
      driven by growth in all three revenue streams. 
 
   -- Net Loss was $22.0 million, compared to Net Income of $6.2 million in the 
      prior year, driven by higher general & administrative expenses due to 
      costs associated with being a public company, and higher marketing 
      expense. 
 
   -- Adjusted EBITDA was $4.1 million, compared to Adjusted EBITDA of $22.2 
      million in the prior year. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 1.3%, compared to 
      6.8% in the prior year. 
 
   -- Diluted loss per share was $0.17, compared to diluted earnings per share 
      of $0.06 in the prior year. 
 
   -- Adjusted earnings per share was $0.03, compared to Adjusted EPS of $0.20 
      in the prior year. 
 
   -- Cash and cash equivalents of approximately $550.1 million plus another 
      $28.1 million of short-term deposits included in Other current assets. 

Junkoo Kim, Founder and CEO, said, "We are pleased to report both revenue and Adjusted EBITDA above the midpoint of our guidance. Total revenue was up 5.3% on a constant currency basis, with all three revenue streams -- Paid Content, Advertising, and IP Adaptations -- contributing to growth."

Kim continued, "In Q1, we started to implement a number of important product enhancements to our English-language platform, including improved, AI-powered discovery features, allowing users to spend more time enjoying a story and less time searching for one. We were also thrilled to bring major global franchises like 'Godzilla' and 'Sonic the Hedgehog' to our platform. We look forward to continuing to expand our diverse content library and connecting more fans with the stories they love in a whole new way."

Second Quarter 2025 Outlook

For the second quarter 2025, the Company expects:

   -- Revenue growth on a constant currency basis in the range of 2.2%-5.2%. 
      This represents revenue in the range of $335-$345 million, based on 
      current FX rates. 
 
   -- Adjusted EBITDA in the range of $0.5-$5.5 million, representing an 
      Adjusted EBITDA Margin in the range of 0.1%-1.6%. 

Conference Call & Webcast Details

As previously disclosed, the Company will host a webcast and conference call on May 13, 2025, at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time, to discuss the Company's financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2025.

A live webcast of the conference call will be available online at https://ir.webtoon.com/.

For those unable to listen to the live webcast, an archived version will be available at the same location for up to one year.

About WEBTOON Entertainment Inc.

WEBTOON Entertainment is a leading global entertainment company and home to some of the world's largest storytelling platforms. As the global leader and pioneer of the mobile webcomic format, WEBTOON Entertainment has transformed comics and visual storytelling for fans and creators.

With its CANVAS UGC platform empowering anyone to become a creator, and a growing roster of superstar WEBTOON Originals creators and series, WEBTOON Entertainment's passionate fandoms are the new face of pop culture. WEBTOON Entertainment's adaptations are available on Netflix, Prime Video, Crunchyroll and other screens around the world, and the company's content partners include Discord, HYBE and DC Comics, among many others.

With approximately 150 million monthly active users, WEBTOON Entertainment's IP & Creator Ecosystem of aligned brands and platforms include WEBTOON, Wattpad -- the world's leading webnovel platform -- Wattpad WEBTOON Studios, Studio N, Studio LICO, WEBTOON Unscrolled, LINE Manga and eBookJapan, among others.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and involves risks, assumptions and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements cover all matters which are not historical facts and include, without limitation, statements or guidance regarding or relating to our future financial position, results of operations and growth, plans and objectives for future capabilities, ability to attract users in both our core and underpenetrated geographies, ability to grow our Paid Content, Advertising and IP Adaptations businesses, our financial condition and liquidity, and other statements concerning the success of our business and strategies. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "goal," "seek," "believe," "project," "estimate," "expect," "strategy," "future," "likely," "may," "should," "will" and similar references to future periods. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made. They are not assurances of future performance and are based only on our current beliefs, expectations and assumptions regarding the future of our business, future plans and strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy and other future conditions. Therefore, you should not place undue reliance on any of these forward-looking statements. Although we believe that the forward-looking statements contained in this release are based on reasonable assumptions, you should be aware that many factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to: weakness in the economy, market trends, uncertainty and other conditions in the markets in which we operate, and other geopolitical or macroeconomic factors beyond our control; inability to attract, empower, properly support or incentivize our creators; inability to retain, attract and engage with our users; inability to anticipate, understand and appropriately respond to market trends and changing user preferences; failure to retain or increase our paying users; failure to effectively operate in highly competitive markets; inability to innovate and expand our Advertising business; inability to continue to diversify our monetization strategy or to increase revenues from IP Adaptations; failure to control our content-related costs; exposure to significant legal proceedings and regulatory investigations which may result in significant expenses, fines and reputational damage; failure to provide a safe online environment for children; exposure to claims that we violated third parties' intellectual property rights; failure to obtain, maintain, protect or enforce our proprietary and intellectual property rights; rise of conflicts of interests with NAVER Corporation, our majority stockholder; and other risks and uncertainties set forth under the caption "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024 filed by the Company with the SEC on March 11, 2025, and in other filings we make with the SEC in the future.

Additionally, forward-looking statements regarding past trends or activities should not be taken as a representation that such trends or activities will continue in the future. Other than in accordance with our legal or regulatory obligations, we undertake no obligations to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures & Definitions

This release contains certain financial information that is not presented in conformity with U.S. GAAP. These non-GAAP measures include Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA Margin, Adjusted Earnings Per Share (Adjusted EPS), revenue on a constant currency basis and revenue growth on a constant currency basis.

We believe that these non-GAAP measures provide users of the Company's financial information with additional meaningful information to assist in understanding financial results and assessing the Company's performance from period to period. Management believes these measures are important indicators of operations because they exclude items that may not be indicative of our core operating results and provide a better baseline for analyzing trends in our underlying businesses, and they are consistent with how business performance is planned, reported and assessed internally by management and the board of directors of the Company. Our non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered in isolation, or as substitutes for, financial information prepared in accordance with GAAP. Non-GAAP measures have limitations as they do not reflect all the amounts associated with our results of operations as determined in accordance with GAAP, and should only be used to evaluate our results of operations in conjunction with the corresponding or most directly comparable GAAP measures. We strongly encourage investors and shareholders to review our financial statements and publicly filed reports in their entirety and not to rely on any

single financial measure.

A reconciliation is provided at the end of this release for each historical non-GAAP financial measure to the most directly comparable financial measure stated in accordance with U.S. GAAP. We encourage investors and shareholders to review the related U.S. GAAP financial measures and the reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable U.S. GAAP financial measures, and not to rely on any single financial measure to evaluate our business. We do not provide a reconciliation of forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable U.S. GAAP financial measures on a forward-looking basis because we are unable to predict with reasonable certainty or without unreasonable effort non-recurring items that may arise in the future.

Adjusted EBITDA: We define Adjusted EBITDA as net income (loss), adjusted to remove the impact of interest income, interest expense, income tax expense (credit) and depreciation and amortization, with further adjustments to eliminate the effects of loss on equity method investments, effect of applying the valuation method of fair value through profit or loss, impairment of goodwill, non-cash stock-based compensation and certain other non-recurring costs.

Adjusted EBITDA Margin: We define Adjusted EBITDA Margin as Adjusted EBITDA divided by revenue.

Adjusted Earnings Per Share (Adjusted EPS): We define Adjusted Earnings Per Share as Earnings Per Share before interest expense, interest income, income tax expense and depreciation and amortization with further adjustments to eliminate the effects of loss on equity method investments, effect of applying the valuation method of fair value through profit or loss, impairment of goodwill, non-cash stock-based compensation and certain other non-recurring costs. We calculate Adjusted Earnings Per Share by making the adjustments described herein from Net Income (Loss) and dividing by basic and diluted weighted average shares of common stock outstanding, respectively, for the applicable period.

Revenue on a Constant Currency Basis: We define revenue on a constant currency basis as revenue adjusted to remove the impact of foreign currency rate fluctuations and the impact of deconsolidated and transferred operations. We calculate revenue on a constant currency basis in a given period by applying the average currency exchange rates in the comparable period of the prior year to the local currency revenue in the current period. We calculate revenue on a constant currency basis in each of our revenue streams -- Paid Content, Advertising and IP Adaptations -- using the same method as laid out herein.

Revenue Growth on a Constant Currency Basis: We define revenue growth on a constant currency basis as period-over-period growth rates of revenue, adjusted to remove the impact of foreign currency rate fluctuations and the impact of deconsolidated and transferred operations. We calculate revenue growth (as a percentage) on a constant currency basis by determining the increase in current period revenue over prior period revenue, where current period foreign currency revenue is translated using prior period average currency exchange rates.

 
 
                          Financial Statements 
------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
 
                       WEBTOON Entertainment Inc. 
                      Consolidated Balance Sheets 
         (in thousands of USD, except share and per share data) 
 
                                                  As of 
                                  March 31, 2025     December 31, 2024 
                                 ----------------  --------------------- 
Assets 
   Current assets: 
      Cash and cash equivalents   $      550,136    $         572,402 
Receivables(1) , net of 
 allowance for credit losses of 
 $3,774 and $3,418 at March 31, 
 2025 and December 31, 2024, 
 respectively                            173,710              169,187 
      Prepaid expenses and 
       other current assets, 
       net(2)                             96,404               94,783 
                                     -----------       -------------- 
Total current assets                     820,250              836,372 
      Property and equipment, 
       net                                 3,826                3,782 
      Operating lease 
       right-of-use assets                26,973               16,649 
      Debt and equity 
       securities                         73,124               70,178 
      Intangible assets, net             177,575              180,912 
      Goodwill, net                      669,254              665,275 
      Equity method investments           78,958               78,668 
      Deferred tax assets                 17,390               17,592 
      Other non-current assets, 
       net(3)                             69,560               65,906 
                                     -----------       -------------- 
Total assets                      $    1,936,910    $       1,935,334 
                                     ===========       ============== 
Liabilities and equity 
Current liabilities: 
      Accounts payable(4)         $      132,582    $         127,306 
      Accrued expenses(5)                 58,937               62,209 
      Current portion of 
       operating lease 
       liabilities(6)                      8,007                6,053 
      Contract liabilities                85,696               85,860 
      Income tax payables - 
       corporate tax                       7,140               10,093 
      Consumption taxes 
       payables                            5,014                8,339 
      Provisions and defined 
       pension benefits                   11,954               11,133 
      Other current liabilities            2,917                2,231 
                                     -----------       -------------- 
Total current liabilities                312,247              313,224 
Non-current liabilities: 
      Long-term operating lease 
       liabilities(7)                     19,805               11,187 
      Defined severance 
       benefits                           22,184               22,030 
      Deferred tax liabilities            28,680               30,271 
      Other non-current 
       liabilities                         1,442                2,161 
                                     -----------       -------------- 
Total liabilities                 $      384,358    $         378,873 
      Commitments and 
      Contingencies 
Redeemable non-controlling 
 interest in subsidiary           $       36,784    $          36,580 
Stockholders' equity: 
      Common stock, $0.0001 par 
       value (2,000,000,000 
       authorized, 130,172,281 
       shares and 128,587,944 
       shares issued and 
       outstanding as of March 
       31, 2025 and December 
       31, 2024, respectively)    $           13    $              13 
      Additional paid-in 
       capital                         2,115,350            2,103,931 
      Accumulated other 
       comprehensive loss               (118,230)            (124,620) 
      Accumulated deficit               (529,586)            (507,197) 
                                     -----------       -------------- 
Total stockholders' equity 
 attributable to WEBTOON 
 Entertainment Inc.                    1,467,547            1,472,127 
      Non-controlling interests 
       in consolidated 
       subsidiaries                       48,221               47,754 
Total equity                           1,515,768            1,519,881 
                                     -----------       -------------- 
Total liabilities, redeemable 
 non-controlling interest, and 
 equity                           $    1,936,910    $       1,935,334 
                                     ===========       ============== 
 
(1. Includes amounts due from related parties of $56,859 
 and $59,495 as of March 31, 2025 and December 31, 
 2024, respectively.) 
(2. Includes amounts due from related parties of $7,290 
 and $9,258 as of March 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024, 
 respectively.) 
(3. Includes amounts due from related parties of $32,325 
 and $32,072 as of March 31, 2025 and December 31, 
 2024, respectively.) 
(4. Includes amounts due from related parties of $16,935 
 and $17,173 as of March 31, 2025 and December 31, 
 2024, respectively.) 
(5. Includes amounts due to related parties of $7,750 
 and $5,562 as of March 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024, 
 respectively.) 
(6. Includes amounts due to related parties of $4,460 
 and as of $3,506 March 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024, 
 respectively.) 
(7. Includes amounts due to related parties of $8,178 
 and $9,519 as of March 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024, 
 respectively.) 
 
 
                       WEBTOON Entertainment Inc. 
        Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive 
                                  Loss 
                              (unaudited) 
         (in thousands of USD, except share and per share data) 
 
                                             Three Months Ended 
                                     March 31, 2025     March 31, 2024 
                                    ----------------  ------------------ 
Revenue(1)                           $      325,707    $      326,744 
Cost of revenue(2)                         (254,096)         (244,385) 
Marketing(3)                                (31,543)          (19,478) 
General and administrative 
 expenses(4)                                (66,702)          (48,693) 
                                        -----------       ----------- 
Operating income (loss)                     (26,634)           14,188 
Interest income                               5,113             1,235 
Interest expense                                 (2)              (33) 
Income (loss) on equity method 
 investments, net                              $(569.SI)$           (1,052) 
Other income (loss), net(5)                   2,670            (1,437) 
                                        -----------       ----------- 
Income (loss) before income tax             (19,422)           12,901 
 
Income tax benefit (expense)                 (2,547)           (6,668) 
                                        -----------       ----------- 
Net income (loss)                    $      (21,969)   $        6,233 
                                        ===========       =========== 
Net income (loss) attributable to 
 WEBTOON Entertainment Inc.                 (22,389)            6,192 
Net income (loss) attributable to 
 non-controlling interests and 
 redeemable non-controlling 
 interests                                      420                41 
Other comprehensive income 
(loss): 
Foreign currency translation 
 adjustments, net of tax                      6,572           (28,689) 
Share of other comprehensive 
 income (loss) of equity method 
 investments, net of tax             $         (143)   $           (9) 
                                        -----------       ----------- 
Total other comprehensive loss, 
 net of tax                                   6,429           (28,698) 
                                        -----------       ----------- 
Total comprehensive income (loss)    $      (15,540)   $      (22,465) 
                                        ===========       =========== 
Total comprehensive income (loss) 
 attributable to WEBTOON 
 Entertainment Inc.                  $      (15,999)   $      (22,506) 
Total comprehensive income (loss) 
 attributable to non-controlling 
 interests and redeemable 
 non-controlling interests                      459                41 
Weighted average shares 
outstanding 
   Basic                                129,598,942       109,505,160 
   Diluted                              129,598,942       109,564,500 
Income (loss) per share 
attributable to WEBTOON 
Entertainment Inc. 
   Basic                             $        (0.17)   $         0.06 
   Diluted                           $        (0.17)   $         0.06 
(1. Includes amounts earned from related parties of 
 $17,713 and $13,287 for the three months ended March 
 31, 2025, and March 31, 2024, respectively.) 
(2. Includes amounts incurred from related parties 
 of $28,131 and $8,954 for the three months ended March 
 31, 2025 and March 31, 2024, respectively.) 
3. Includes amounts incurred from related parties 
 of $(2,581) and $(1,905) for the three months ended 
 March 31, 2025 and March 31, 2024, respectively. 
(4. Includes amounts incurred from related parties 
 of $6,913 and $6,428 for the three months ended March 
 31, 2025 and March 31, 2024, respectively.) 
5. Includes amounts earned from related parties of 
 $411 and $(206) for the three months ended March 31, 
 2025 and March 31, 2024, respectively. 
 
 
                        WEBTOON Entertainment Inc. 
                  Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows 
 
                          (in thousands of USD) 
 
                                         Three Months Ended March 31, 
                                           2025                 2024 
                                        -----------          ---------- 
Operating activities: 
      Net Income (Loss)              $      (21,969)      $       6,233 
   Adjustments to reconcile net 
   loss to cash used in operating 
   activities: 
      Allowance for credit losses               443                 660 
      Depreciation and 
       amortization                           8,437               9,035 
      Operating lease expense                 1,985               2,794 
      Loss (gain) on foreign 
       currency, net                         (2,793)              2,601 
      Deferred tax expense                   (1,143)             (1,012) 
      Loss (Gain) on debt and 
       equity securities, net                   930              (3,371) 
      Loss on equity method 
       investments, net                         569               1,052 
      Contingent consideration 
       liability                                 --                (849) 
      Stock-based compensation               18,253               1,311 
      Other non-cash items                     (795)              1,540 
   Changes in operating assets 
   and liabilities 
      Changes in receivables                    750             (11,716) 
      Changes in other assets                (2,250)             (5,634) 
      Changes in accounts payable            (2,801)             16,333 
      Changes in accrued expenses           (15,342)            (13,466) 
      Changes in contract 
       liabilities                           (1,450)             24,131 
      Changes in other liabilities             (700)             (3,291) 
      Changes in operating lease 
       liabilities                           (1,240)             (2,503) 
      Transfer of severance 
       benefits                                 464                   8 
   Net cash provided by (used in) 
    operating activities             $      (18,652)      $      23,856 
Investing activities: 
      Proceeds from maturities of 
       short-term investments        $        3,446       $       1,129 
      Proceeds from sale of 
      property and equipment                     77                  -- 
      Purchases of property and 
       equipment                               (536)               (472) 
      Purchases of debt and equity 
       securities                            (3,789)                  5 
      Payment made for short-term 
       investments                           (4,824)            (20,000) 
      Payment made for loan 
       receivable                              (207)                (98) 
      Purchases of intangible 
       assets                                (2,444)             (2,590) 
      Purchases of equity method 
       investments                               --              (5,478) 
      Disposal of businesses, net 
       of cash disposed                          --                (358) 
      Other investing activities                249                  46 
                                        -----------          ---------- 
   Net cash used in investing 
    activities                       $       (8,028)      $     (27,816) 
Financing activities: 
      Proceeds from stock option 
       exercise                      $           82       $          -- 
      Repayments of short-term 
       borrowings                                --                 (15) 
      Payment of contingent 
       consideration related to 
       business acquisition                      --                (842) 
                                        -----------          ---------- 
   Net cash provided by (used in) 
    financing activities             $           82       $        (857) 
      Effect of exchange rate 
       changes on cash and cash 
       equivalents                   $        4,332       $      (8,258) 
Cash and cash equivalents: 
      Net increase (decrease) in 
       cash and cash equivalents     $      (22,266)      $     (13,075) 
      Cash and cash equivalents at 
       beginning of the year                572,402             231,745 
                                        -----------          ---------- 
Cash and cash equivalents at end 
 of the year                         $      550,136       $     218,670 
                                        ===========          ========== 
Supplemental disclosure: 
      Income taxes paid              $        6,826       $      11,785 
      Reclassification of 
       long-term advances to 
       current                              (28,973)                 -- 
      Increase in right-of-use               12,007                  -- 
       assets recognized from new 
       lease agreements 
 

Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measures

In addition to adjustments for foreign exchange fluctuations, we have also further adjusted revenue to exclude the impacts of deconsolidated and transferred operations to show growth or loss exclusive of these changes ("Revenue on a Constant Currency Basis"). Revenue on a Constant Currency Basis is a Non-GAAP metric that management believes adds value but has its limitations as an analytical tool, and you should not consider it in isolation or as substitutes for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP.

The following table presents a reconciliation of revenue to revenue on a constant currency basis, and ARPPU to ARPPU on a constant currency basis, respectively, for each of the periods presented.

 
                           Three Months Ended March 31, 
(in thousands of USD, 
except percentages)             2025             2024        Change 
                            ------------      ----------- 
Total Revenue            $       325,707   $      326,744     (0.3)% 
  Effect of 
   deconsolidated and 
   transferred 
   operations                          -             (145)  (100.0)% 
  Effects of foreign 
   currency rate 
   fluctuations                   18,131                -        N/A 
                            ------------      ----------- 
Revenue on a Constant 
 Currency Basis          $       343,838   $      326,599       5.3% 
                            ============      =========== 
  Paid Content Revenue           260,226          266,855     (2.5)% 
    Effect of 
     deconsolidated 
     and transferred 
     operations                        -             (120)  (100.0)% 
    Effects of foreign 
     currency rate 
     fluctuations                 13,969                -        N/A 
                            ------------      ----------- 
Paid Content Revenue 
 on a Constant 
 Currency Basis          $       274,195   $      266,735       2.8% 
                            ============      =========== 
  Advertising Revenue             39,898           36,996       7.8% 
    Effects of foreign 
     currency rate 
     fluctuations                  2,141                -        N/A 
                            ------------      ----------- 
Advertising Revenue on 
 a Constant Currency 
 Basis                   $        42,039   $       36,996      13.6% 
                            ============      =========== 
  IP Adaptations 
   Revenue                        25,583           22,893      11.8% 
    Effect of 
     deconsolidated 
     and transferred 
     operations                        -              (25)  (100.0)% 
    Effects of foreign 
     currency rate 
     fluctuations                  2,021                -        N/A 
                            ------------      ----------- 
IP Adaptations Revenue 
 on a Constant 
 Currency Basis          $        27,604   $       22,868      20.7% 
                            ============      =========== 
 
Paid Content Average 
Revenue Per Paying 
User ("ARPPU")(1) 
  Korea paid content 
   revenue               $        77,027   $       90,943    (15.3)% 
  Korea ARPPU            $           7.5   $          7.9     (5.3)% 
    Effects of foreign 
     currency rate 
     fluctuations                    0.9                -        N/A 
                            ------------      ----------- 
  Korea ARPPU on a 
   Constant Currency 
   Basis                 $           8.4   $          7.9       6.7% 
                            ============      =========== 
 
  Japan paid content 
   revenue               $       150,401   $      142,208       5.8% 
  Japan ARPPU            $          22.3   $         22.2       0.6% 
    Effects of foreign 
     currency rate 
     fluctuations                    0.6                -        N/A 
                            ------------      ----------- 
  Japan ARPPU on a 
   Constant Currency 
   Basis                 $          23.0   $         22.2       3.5% 
                            ============      =========== 
 
  Rest of World paid 
   content revenue       $        32,798   $       33,704     (2.7)% 
  Rest of World ARPPU    $           6.5   $          6.3       3.5% 
  Rest of World ARPPU 
   on a Constant 
   Currency Basis        $           6.5   $          6.3       3.5% 
                            ============      =========== 
 
1 ARPPU is calculated by taking Paid Content revenue 
 and dividing it by the number of monthly paid users 
 ("MPU") for such month, averaged over each month in 
 the given period. ARPPU on a constant currency basis 
 is calculated by dividing Paid Content revenue on 
 a constant currency basis by the number of MPU for 
 such month, averaged over each month in the given 
 period. Where each metric is country specific, the 
 numerator is Paid Content revenue on a constant currency 
 basis by country and the denominator is users by country. 
 

The following table presents a reconciliation of net loss to EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin for each of the periods presented.

 
                                       Three Months Ended March 31, 
(in thousands of USD, except 
percentages)                            2025              2024 
                                     -----------       ----------- 
Net income (loss)                   $    (21,969)     $      6,233 
Plus (minus): 
   Interest income                        (5,113)           (1,235) 
   Interest expense                            2                33 
   Income tax expense                      2,547             6,668 
   Depreciation and amortization           8,437             9,035 
                                     -----------       ----------- 
EBITDA                              $    (16,096)     $     20,734 
                                     -----------       ----------- 
Stock-based compensation 
 expense(1)                               17,035             2,226 
Restructuring and IPO-related 
 costs(2)                                  1,642             1,516 
Loss (gain) on fair value 
 instruments, net(3)                         930            (3,371) 
Loss on equity method investments, 
 net(4)                                      569             1,052 
                                     -----------       ----------- 
Adjusted EBITDA(5)                  $      4,080      $     22,157 
                                     ===========       =========== 
Net income (loss) margin                    (6.7)%             1.9% 
Adjusted EBITDA Margin                       1.3%              6.8% 
Weighted average shares 
outstanding 
  Basic                              129,598,942       109,505,160 
  Diluted                            129,598,942       109,564,500 
Earnings (loss) per share 
  Basic                             $      (0.17)     $       0.06 
  Diluted                           $      (0.17)     $       0.06 
Adjusted EPS(6) 
  Basic                             $       0.03      $       0.20 
  Diluted                           $       0.03      $       0.20 
(1) Represents stock-based compensation expense related 
 to WEBTOON's equity incentive plan and stock-based 
 compensation plans of NAVER and Munpia, including 
 amounts which are cash settled. 
(2) Represents non-recurring expenses that we do not 
 consider representative of the operating performance 
 of the business. For the three months ended March 
 31, 2025, these amounts include legal fees and advisory 
 fees. For the three months ended March 31, 2024, these 
 amounts were comprised of financial advisory fees, 
 consulting fees, severance fees, and office relocation 
 fee. 
(3) Represents unrealized net loss (gain) of financial 
 assets measured at FVPL, which include the Company's 
 equity investments. 
(4) Represents our proportionate share of recognized 
 losses associated with our investments accounted for 
 using the equity method. 
(5) Totals may not foot due to rounding. 
(6) The numerator for Adjusted EPS is calculated by 
 adjusting Net Income (Loss) by the same items in the 
 Net Income (Loss) to Adjusted EBITDA reconciliation. 
 The denominator for computing Adjusted EPS is the 
 same as that used for Basic and Diluted EPS. 
 

Contact Information

Investor Relations

Soohwan Kim, CFA

investor@webtoon.com

Edelman Smithfield for WEBTOON

Hunter Stenback & Ashley Firlan

webtoonIR@edelmansmithfield.com

Corporate Communications

Kiel Hume & Lauren Hopkinson

webtoonpress@webtoon.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 13, 2025 16:05 ET (20:05 GMT)

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