ESG Analyst, Who's Good

Heejeong (Hollie) Park

ESG Analyst

ASIA’S FIRST AI-DRIVEN ESG INSIGHT PROVIDER

Who's Good

Using AI technologies and public data, Who’s Good provides objective and up-to-date corporate ESG insights on Asian companies.

WHY WHO'S GOOD

* Time-sensitive: Time is the essence in finance. Artificial Intelligence (AI) can process vast amount of information in a short span of time. Our powerful algorithm offers real-time in-depth corporate ESG analysis with out compromising its quality.
* Objective: We turned to public big data and news big data as source to base our analysis on and to preserve impartiality. We leverage 350 public big data sources and 93 news data sources in Korea to uncover insights.
* Insightful: Who’s Good ESG analysis coverage extends to all listed and non-listed companies in Korea. This allows us to provide a comprehensive insight into the Korean market.
* Global approach to ESG: Our ESG research framework is built on international standards and principles including UN Global Compact, ISO 26000, ICGN and CFA Guidelines on Corporate Governance to meet the global standards.

<ul>
<li>Recently, a controversy surrounding substantial crypto investments in the political sphere has exerted downward pressure on the stock prices of major listed game companies in South Korea. </li>
<li>In the past five years, there has been a shift in the gaming industry's risk landscape, with social risks giving way to governance risks.</li>
<li>Some game companies have started publishing sustainability reports, but challenges arise due to the inconsistency in environmental data and the difficulties in comparing companies.</li>
</ul>


Recently, a controversy surrounding substantial crypto investments in the political sphere has exerted downward pressure on the stock prices of major listed game companies in South Korea. 
In the past five years, there has been a shift in the gaming industry's risk landscape, with social risks giving way to governance risks.
Some game companies have started publishing sustainability reports, but challenges arise due to the inconsistency in environmental data and the difficulties in comparing companies.


ESG Incident Report: Changing Trends in ESG Risks for Major Listed Game Companies in South Korea

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs, Douglas Research Advisory

Douglas Kim

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs

Private Capital Markets

SmileGate Holdings / Private Capital Markets

<ul>
<li>Established in 2002, Smilegate Holdings is well known for its globally popular games including Crossfire (a first person shooter game), Lost Ark (MMORPG), and Epic Seven.</li>
<li>In August 2020, Smilegate RPG entered into a partnership with Amazon Games, reaching an exclusive publishing agreement for North America and Europe.</li>
<li>At a P/S valuation of 6-7x using company's 2021 sales of 1.4 trillion won would suggest implied valuations of 8 trillion won to 10 trillion won for Smilegate Holdings.</li>
</ul>


Established in 2002, Smilegate Holdings is well known for its globally popular games including Crossfire (a first person shooter game), Lost Ark (MMORPG), and Epic Seven.
In August 2020, Smilegate RPG entered into a partnership with Amazon Games, reaching an exclusive publishing agreement for North America and Europe.
At a P/S valuation of 6-7x using company's 2021 sales of 1.4 trillion won would suggest implied valuations of 8 trillion won to 10 trillion won for Smilegate Holdings.


Smilegate Holdings: A Giant Korean Game Company in Partnership with Amazon Games

Korea / Special Situations, Clepsydra Capital

Sanghyun Park

Korea / Special Situations

Korea / Special Sits, Pairs, Index Rebalancing

Clepsydra Capital

Investigate special situations, pairs, and index rebalancing trades in Korea.

Equity Capital Markets

Lionheart Studio  / Equity Capital Markets

<ul>
<li>Lionheart used the net profit from 3Q last year to 2Q this year. The Odin sales peaked in the third quarter of last year and are on a downward trend.</li>
<li>The indicative price band reaches a P/E multiple of 22~32x reasonably projected earnings of ₩140B. NCsoft's 12M forward PER stands at 14-15x. Krafton is only 12x.</li>
<li>It is unclear whether the market will accept this price deception under current conditions. We should refrain from aggressively approaching it without a clear answer to the decline in sales.</li>
</ul>


Lionheart used the net profit from 3Q last year to 2Q this year. The Odin sales peaked in the third quarter of last year and are on a downward trend.
The indicative price band reaches a P/E multiple of 22~32x reasonably projected earnings of ₩140B. NCsoft's 12M forward PER stands at 14-15x. Krafton is only 12x.
It is unclear whether the market will accept this price deception under current conditions. We should refrain from aggressively approaching it without a clear answer to the decline in sales.


Lionheart Studio IPO: Still Same Inflated Valuation

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements, Aequitas Research

Sumeet Singh

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements

IPOs and Placements coverage across Asia Pacific

Aequitas Research

We cover all listing across the Asia Pacific along with follow-up placements. As of Dec 2020, our team had covered 539 IPOs with a hit rate of 73.5% and 685 placements with a hit rate of 66.8%.

We combine fundamental bottom-up views with our proprietary quantitative framework to provide a holistic coverage across new listings and placements. Our coverage includes pre-IPO notes before the deal is launched, follow-up analysis once the deal is live and post-listing trading analysis as well.

<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/lionheart-studio-corporation" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:36417:1" rel="noopener">Lionheart Studio (426630 KS)</a>, a game development studio based in South Korea,  aims to raise around US$420m via its South Korean IPO.</li>
<li>The company is majority owned by <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/kakao-games-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26730:1" rel="noopener">Kakao Games Corp (293490 KS)</a>, which after having recently hiked its stake, owned 54.94% of the company prior to listing.  </li>
<li>We spoke about the company’s past performance and undertook a peer comparison in our previous note. In this note, we’ll talk about our earnings estimates and valuation.</li>
</ul>



Lionheart Studio (426630 KS), a game development studio based in South Korea,  aims to raise around US$420m via its South Korean IPO.
The company is majority owned by Kakao Games Corp (293490 KS), which after having recently hiked its stake, owned 54.94% of the company prior to listing.  
We spoke about the company’s past performance and undertook a peer comparison in our previous note. In this note, we’ll talk about our earnings estimates and valuation.


<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/lionheart-studio-corporation" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:36417:1" rel="noopener">Lionheart Studio (426630 KS)</a>, a game development studio based in South Korea,  aims to raise around US$420m via its South Korean IPO.</li>
<li>The company is majority owned by <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/kakao-games-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26730:1" rel="noopener">Kakao Games Corp (293490 KS)</a>, which after having recently hiked its stake, owned 54.94% of the company prior to listing.  </li>
<li>We spoke about the company’s past performance in our previous note. In this note, we’ll undertake a peer comparison.</li>
</ul>



Lionheart Studio (426630 KS), a game development studio based in South Korea,  aims to raise around US$420m via its South Korean IPO.
The company is majority owned by Kakao Games Corp (293490 KS), which after having recently hiked its stake, owned 54.94% of the company prior to listing.  
We spoke about the company’s past performance in our previous note. In this note, we’ll undertake a peer comparison.


LionHeart Studio IPO - Peer Comparison - Youngest and Most Untested

South Korea

Wemade Co., Ltd. develops and markets on-line games that enable users to play over the internet.  The Company also provides computer game software and mobile games for cellular phone users.

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Wemade Co (112040 KS)

ESG Incident Report: Changing Trends in ESG Risks for Major Listed Game Companies in South Korea

This article uncovers the evolving landscape of ESG risks in the gaming industry, including the impact of cryptocurrency controversies and the...

Heejeong (Hollie) Park

Smilegate Holdings: A Giant Korean Game Company in Partnership with Amazon Games

Established in 2002, Smilegate Holdings is well known for its globally popular games including Crossfire (a first person shooter game), Lost Ark...

Douglas Kim

Lionheart Studio IPO: Still Same Inflated Valuation

This post details the terms of Lionheart Studio IPO and investigates the critical valuation issues, which resemble the inflated valuation...

Sanghyun Park

Lionheart IPO - Thoughts on Valuation

Lionheart Studio (426630 KS), a game development studio based in South Korea, aims to raise around US$420m via its South Korean IPO. In this note,...

Sumeet Singh

LionHeart Studio IPO - Peer Comparison - Youngest and Most Untested

Lionheart Studio, a game development studio based in South Korea, aims to raise around US$420m via its South Korean IPO. In this note, we...

Sumeet Singh

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