AfreecaTV Co Ltd

KOSDAQ:067160

Earnings Call Analysis

Earnings Call Transcript 2024-Q2

[Annye Seulti, executive]

[Interpreted] Hello, everyone. Welcome to the second quarter earnings call for 2024. Let me introduce myself. My name is Annye Seulti. Great to meet you. So yes, I am now working for Soop this year.

[Chan-Yong Jung, executive]

[Interpreted] Yes, that's correct. She is the newest partner.

[Annye Seulti, executive]

[Interpreted] Yes. After the name change of the brand, rebranding to Soop, I am now joined with this, and probably you used to saw me singing. But here I am as the emcee of the day, and it's a great honor to be here. I'm actually very, very nervous. You told me that this is an easy-going place, nothing to be so different from the concert that I'm used to the Dream concert. But I can see that I am extremely nervous now. But anyways, let me get started with this.

So Soop earnings call is open to anyone interested in Soop. However, as it is a performance-related broadcasting, only those who have preregistered can ask questions in the chat. Today, we're joined by CEO, Jung Chan-Yong, our Director Kim Jiyeon and our Manager, Jun Kyunghee.

So let's get started with a few words.

[Chan-Yong Jung, executive]

[Interpreted] Hello, everyone. I'm Jung Chan-Yong. So we're finished up with the first half of this year and so happy to share with the performance and also the plans for the second half of this year and also the year after this. So I'm very excited to be here.

Now in the first half of this year, we are doing pretty well actually. But what matters more is to be able to continue this momentum to the third and the fourth quarter, and I know for sure that we have the potential to do that.

[Annye Seulti, executive]

[Interpreted] Thank you. Next, please Ms. Kim.

[Kim Jiyeon, executive]

[Interpreted] Hello. I'm Kim Jiyeon. Yes, it's pretty hard to ignore. And that means the first half of this year is already coming to an end. And with the new brand name Soop, we've made new efforts and expansions of the business. And I am very happy to be able to share great news with you today. And in the second half of this year, I have no doubt that we will be able to share with you even greater results. And for more details, you can tune in, and I will be more than happy to share the details.

[Annye Seulti, executive]

[Interpreted] Okay, great. Next, Ms. Jun, please.

[Kyunghee Jun, executive]

[Interpreted] Hello, from the IR team. My name is Jun Kyunghee. Yes, the first half really flew by, literally, and I think this is such a critical moment for our company. We do, therefore, have many great dynamic, exciting news to share with you. Thank you.

[Annye Seulti, executive]

[Interpreted] All right. Great. Thank you very much.

[Chan-Yong Jung, executive]

[Interpreted] So I think you, Annye Seulti the new BJ today is with us, [indiscernible] We had a different emcee actually, but she had to leave because of other engagement and situations, which is why we have you Annye Seulti as a new streamer and the emcee for today. I believe that we have many fans of you and see looking at all these star balloons, your fans are here with us. But we do have the analysts and capital market analysts. Some of them may know you, some may not. So maybe you can go ahead and introduce yourself as an icebreaker.

She is known to be a great musician, a singer and a great person to have here in Afreeca TV. So in fact, I know I was actually going to ask her to sing, but I don't think she would like that idea. But let's go ahead and with little bit of an introduction.

[Annye Seulti, executive]

[Interpreted] Sure. Hello, I am saying in this platform, Soop and also outside the platform. And most of my shows are music related. Basically, he told me, I mean, I guess I'm #1 in terms of the rank for music in that category. So great to be here. And I do have my personal shows and channels. So please tune in. Yes, I've been looking forward to having you here next to me, and I'm very, very honored to be here. Yes, actually all I've been doing was singing. And I've been doing a little bit of emceeing here and there just recently. It is an honor for me to be invited here as an emcee.

[Chan-Yong Jung, executive]

[Interpreted] You're amazing. You are so versatile. You have great talent for sure. And some of you may already know how amazing she is. So back in 2012, Superstar K, you are one of the tops, right? You were in your sophomore year in high school. So it's been around a decade or so, you're almost a professional in terms of singing for sure.

But I can see that you're talented in many different ways. You're a great singer and you look, you seem like a very kind and mild personality, but you do have other kind of great things and amazing talent here and there.

[Annye Seulti, executive]

[Interpreted] So happy. So let's get excited about this. Okay, so what's the order proceedings today?

[Kyunghee Jun, executive]

[Interpreted] Well, we'll first present the earnings highlights of the second quarter of this year and then have the Q&A session right after.

[Annye Seulti, executive]

[Interpreted] All right. Let's proceed with the earnings results. Manager, Jun Kyunghee, will present the second quarter's business performance and the results.

[Kyunghee Jun, executive]

[Interpreted] Yes, sure, slide, please. So let me start with the second quarter of 2024 earnings highlights and our business performance. Soop's platform, service and business continued to sale smoothly from the beginning of this year. First, in terms of content, there's a growing trend of engagement driven and interactive content created with various streamers. This began with Crocodile's Playground and continued with the Waktaverse Sports festival in July, showcasing an increase in integrated contents led by influential streamers.

Afreeca TV itself also offers content such as eSports, World Cup and assemble encouraging engagement and participation from all streamers regardless of which platform they're on. Additionally, new service features like Good Game, Good Luck, are being introduced, promising further developments and advances in the latter half of this year.

In terms of functionalities and features, we've been optimizing our services through direct communication with streamers and users, and we've been enhancing features to boost the participation in many different ways. Recently, we've partnered with Marpple Shop to enable streamers on Soop to effortlessly create and sell merchandises with just a few simple clicks.

In the third quarter, alongside our platform rebranding effort, Soop is preparing for changes and expansions in 3 major aspects, number one, in terms of business model diversification, we are planning to introduce the first phase overhaul of subscription model, integration of QuickVue and the free subscription voucher giveaway feature.

Secondly, to improve streamers broadcasting convenience, we aim to upgrade the external device dashboards, broadcasting station reorganization and electronic assistant improvement features within this year. Lastly, for long-term projects, we will upgrade content personalization, algorithm logic, AI manager implementation and broadcasting analytics to benefit both streamers and users.

In addition to these updates, we're planning various events, including Welcome Program Season 2. Additionally, we will participate in off-line events like the G-Star game show to provide a space where users, our streamers and the streamers from any other platforms can fully rejoin and enjoy time together. And this kind of opportunity will help expand our new brand influence and reach.

Finally, the global Soop had its Beta launch in June this year and is currently in the testing phase. We're incorporating streamer feedback for stabilization of this Beta service. We're expanding direct interactions with game developers, publishers and streamers to strengthen local content business partnerships.

Notably, after the finals of the VALORANT Ascension Qualifiers Series, Thailand, we hosted a gathering inviting local streamers, MCNs and related B2B partners, including our current contact streamers of Soop Global. As such, Soop sees dynamic change as an opportunity, continuously innovating and expanding each quarter to solidify its position as a leading platform in the market for sure.

Next, I will present the second quarter's performance of 2024. Revenue in Q2 stood at KRW 106.5 billion, a 12% increase Q-o-Q and a 23% growth Y-o-Y. Platform revenue for Q2 was KRW 82.8 billion, which is a 5% increase Q-o-Q and 27% increase Y-o-Y, driven by higher engagement and improved ARPU.

Advertising revenue for Q2 was KRW 22.7 billion, up 49% Q-o-Q and 13% Y-o-Y. In more detail, platform ad revenue rebounded with the launch of new games, increasing by 39% quarter-over-quarter, though it decreased by 17% Y-o-Y due to the continued slowdown in the advertising market. Content-based advertising also benefited from new game releases, growing 73% Q-on-Q, but decreasing 4% Y-o-Y. Other Ad revenue, including CTTD, grew by 11% Q-o-Q and 282% Y-o-Y.

Next, let me walk you through operating expenses. Q2 operating expenses were KRW 73.2 billion, a 10% increase Q-o-Q and a 16% increase Y-o-Y. The Q-on-Q increase was primarily due to higher variable costs related to increased Ad and platform revenue, while the Y-o-Y increase was driven by variable costs related to higher platform revenue and increased personnel expenses.

Next is a breakdown of the expenses by type. Reliable costs, including paying charges were KRW 13.7 billion, up 10% Q-on-Q and 42% Y-o-Y, in line with platform revenue growth. Advertising related fee and charges were KRW 11.9 billion, up 69% Q-o-Q and 56% Y-o-Y, reflecting the trend in Ad revenue.

Content production costs rose 6% Q-o-Q but fell Y-o-Y due to the nonrecurrence of large-scale eSports league production from last year falling 75% Y-o-Y to KRW 1.7 billion. Fixed costs included personnel expenses of KRW 23 billion, up 2% Q-o-Q and 19% Y-o-Y. Fees and charges for broadcasting rights and others were KRW 5.9 billion, down 8% Q-on-Q, but up 16% Y-o-Y.

Streamer support costs were KRW 2.6 billion, increasing 32% Q-on-Q and 39% Y-o-Y due to the recognition of cost contracts with old Twitch streamers and partner streamer incentives. Cost for a dedicated line decreased 3% Q-o-Q but increased 23% Y-o-Y to reach KRW 4.1 billion. And lastly, other expenses rose 3% Q-o-Q and 11% Y-o-Y to KRW 4.4 billion.

Q2 operating profit stood at KRW 33.3 billion, up 17% Q-o-Q and 41% Y-o-Y. This was mainly driven by operational leverage gained from rapid platform revenue growth, reduced content production costs and delayed global budget execution, resulting in an operating profit margin of 31.3%. Net profit for Q2 was KRW 28.3 billion, a 15% increase Q-o-Q and 25% increase Y-o-Y.

Finally, please refer to the annual financial statements, and this concludes my presentation. Thank you very much.

[Annye Seulti, executive]

[Interpreted] Thank you for that overview. And during that presentation, we had questions flooding in. So let's dive right into the Q&A session.

Tommy Nu from Goldman Sachs has 2 questions. First of all is a question about the short-term momentum, leading from Q2, what is the Star Balloon trend in July?

[Chan-Yong Jung, executive]

[Interpreted] Well, this is almost the last day-- well, this is the last day of July, which is the beginning of Q3, and there hasn't been a lot of change. The momentum has maintained at very good levels. It's too early to predict the entire quarterly performance. But as of now, things are on schedule and are as good as it was in the previous quarter.

[Annye Seulti, executive]

[Interpreted] And next is about competition. Engagement may be a little bit lighter, but it seems that user volume itself could be significant from the competitor's perspective. I'm curious whether you think that the platforms have different characteristics and features are different focuses in terms of the user base. What do you think will be the change in traffic? Do you think the traffic will change? How do you think we can attract new traffic to Soop? What will be the differentiating factor?

[Chan-Yong Jung, executive]

[Interpreted] Well, the second question is very well pinpointed and very well put. As the final decision maker, this is a very important point. So let me just walk you through my thoughts. With Twitch exiting the Korean market, Twitch's traffic has flown partially to Soop and the other 2 TCG. So it's been sort of polarized. That was the situation at the beginning of the year. And we look at the trend up to this point.

Based on MUV, TCG Has a significant portion. But if we look at the peak or average concurrent viewership, we have a lot more strength and advantages there. So we're doing a lot well there. So the overall volume itself is more meaningful on TCG side. So they can be a competitor. And in our competition with TCG we need to define strategies and map out ways, business strategies of how we can bring in and attract traffic from TCG. On the business side, the structure is a little bit different, but ultimately, in the end, it's traffic that we need to bring into Soop.

From 2013 to 2015, Afreeca TV was the sole and only player. Of course, there were some businesses that branched out, and that was the beginning of this market becoming a little bit more segmented. And I learned a very big lesson about change back then. Streamers and users. This is a community that is active on our platform and facilitating that interaction and engagement is our role. But new users, younger users up and coming users, whether regardless of gender, of age, these users need to be attracted to our platform. And in order to do that, we need to continue to change and innovate.

And internally, up until last year, the business side and operational side of changes that we have undergone are extremely significant. It could have been targeted to users' needs, streamers need. But in a variety of ways, we've revamped from communication-based broadcasting to Esports platforms where everyone and anyone can join in, in the events.

And with our rebranding, the G-Star end of the year award ceremony, these are all of part and parcel of our initiatives to raise awareness about what we do and bring in more users. And so, we have a lot in the pipeline up until the end of this year. And we want to leverage all of that we have planned so that the platform Soop can continue to bring in new users, new streamers onto our platform.

On the upside, the previous Twitch streamers, the top streamers have come on to and onboarded onto our platform. And the majority in the consensus was among them, but Afreeca TV is better than they expected and that their voices are actually heard at Afreeca TV and that their needs are met. That's the feedback that we've gotten.

Well, for every individual streamer end user, you want to create a nice channel, a nice avenue. But also, as a community, we want to make sure that we have a platform that can continue to change that can continue to be flexible and agile in order to continue to bring in that inflow of new users and streamers.

[Annye Seulti, executive]

[Interpreted] Thank you very much for that amazing answer to such sharp and pointing questions.

Next comes from Eun Jung Shin from DB Financial Investment. The first question is, what is the outlook for the Ad performance in the second half of the year? And the second question is what is the outlook for the expenses, specifically labor cost trend, Paris Olympics coverage cost in the Q3 and the G-Star-related cost in the last quarter.

[Chan-Yong Jung, executive]

[Interpreted] I'll cover the first question and leave the second one to Kim Now for the third quarter, the Ad market is still quite shrunk, and we cannot be totally free from that. But we're not giving up, I would believe that internally, the fourth quarter was going to be our main focus for the Ad business. But clearly, we are targeting the growth of the Ad business within Soop.

We're going to do our best everything we can to make that happen. Having said that, I'm not going to promise you that there's going to be dramatic growth compared to the last year because of the downturn in overall as market in this country. But we plan on making certain aspects of our target to be achieved by the end of this year.

[Kim Jiyeon, executive]

[Interpreted] Okay. To the second question now for the cost, yes, you mentioned the labor cost and the Paris Olympic and G-Star. Now for the personnel expenses, the labor expenses not much is likely to change. The first quarter is always the one that we have a lot of coverage, a lot of the recruiting. So usually, the labor cost is focused and concentrate in the first quarter. The second and the third and the fourth quarter is pretty much of an organic and natural one.

Now for the relay, the broadcasting of the Olympics, we're not able to reveal. And that's why I won't be able to give you any details on that. But whenever there's on the World Cup and any other big events, this particular Paris Olympic is relatively less cost, especially compared to the last previous Olympics. Our Korean team isn't doing all that great. So I guess compared to the previous Olympics, we are paying less for the broadcasting rights.

So no worries on that. But I would say we can be even more efficient with the money spent on that. As for G-Star, in the past, we've had G-Star and approximately KRW 1.5 billion was spent for each G-Star event. Things have changed with higher inflations nowadays, so you can factor that in as to calculate this year's G-Star events. We don't have the exact number, but so it will be slightly more than the previous expenses.

Another thing to add is globally until-- we had some plans to have some money spent until the second quarter, but we are delaying those expenses until the third and fourth.

[Chan-Yong Jung, executive]

[Interpreted] For G-Star, we're expecting about 30% increase because of the inflation, and we have some more added to the G-Star. Have you been to G-STAR Annye Seulti?

[Annye Seulti, executive]

[Interpreted] No.

[Chan-Yong Jung, executive]

[Interpreted] This is a great opportunity. In Busan, we have great food, and there will be amazing events out there. So yes, please to bring your entourage and come to the event.

[Annye Seulti, executive]

[Interpreted] All right, thank you very much. Okay, next question, please. Yu John from Citibank asked about the Q2 paying user trend, the reason behind the Q2 MUV Y-o-Y and Q-o-Q decline and Q2 activity indicators metrics as well as DAU and duration time.

[Kim Jiyeon, executive]

[Interpreted] So first of all, regarding the paying users. The absolute figure has been maintained at similar levels compared to Q2. And the platform revenue increase in Q2 mainly came from ARPU. But paying users in the previous quarter compared to at that time, Q-o-Q increased and that was significant.

And in Q2, the reason behind MUV decline. So let me get to that. We have 2 versions that we provided about traffic or MUV, so we gave you different calculation methods, the old one and the new one. In the new version, there is more volatility or variability.

So let me get to the reason behind that. In this quarter well, in the past, what we've done was we only calculated PC and mobile app traffic, but this time around with the new version, we've also included the mobile web users in our traffic calculations. But with the mobile app users, it tend to be lighter users. So that was one of the reasons.

And in Q2, there wasn't a big event because that was why the big event triggered or led influx that it happened. Then the competition missions or other activities that can leverage CK, our own proprietary contents were a little bit lacking in Q2. So in the second half of the year, we have a lot more prepared in the pipeline and we have a lot of big events that are upcoming. So MUV will rebound with the contents that we've prepared.

And with the activity metrics, as I said before, all of the activity metrics and indicators are improving as time goes by specialty duration time. In terms of duration time, we have the highest duration time compared to any other platform out there, and it continues to grow and improve. So these activity indicators, the broadcasting numbers, the simultaneous broadcasting numbers continue to rise. The previous Twitch streamers activity and broadcasting indicators on our platform is also extremely good. So in our eyes, it's very positive.

[Annye Seulti, executive]

[Interpreted] Thank you. Okay. I think there's another few questions here. All right. From Samsung Securities, Mr. Oh Dong Hwan has posed this question. Right now, for the global Soop platform, tech testing is currently underway. What is the time line for global Soop to be fully enabled and activated?

[Chan-Yong Jung, executive]

[Interpreted] Yes, the beta version of global Soop has been launched. Beta version by nature is really focused on the streaming and make sure that we offer great quality and that there's no halts in the middle of the simulcast broadcasting.

And in Korea, we have many features, which aren't available for this global beta version. For example, we have TTS in Korean version. That's not available for the global version just yet. So again, this kind of functions like TTS is very important for streamer and users to the entire community. So we're going to work hard to make sure that these features can be added to the global beta version in the Q3 and Q4 and down the road.

Ms. Jun Kyunghee mentioned already about the accession. The streamer party as well, and she actually went to Bangkok last weekend because of those, including the ambassador streamers, we had about 130 streamers and partners. I guess, a total of 200, including all the stakeholders. There was a network party there in Bangkok last weekend.

And once we started the global business, we knew that we had to have a platform to really do something in the full swing. So it was the first time really get to the ground and see what's happening there myself, and it was a great learning for me.

First thing I learned was that the Valorant Accession finals was quite similar to what I saw here in Korea and at the network party, I could see the relationship with the streamers, with the other partners. They had a great expectation and they had their own ideas about what to expect from us. I can see all of that. It takes time to establish and really solidify the platform. And in order for us to get to the goal earlier and faster, we need to have a great partnership with those people. And so, it was a great time to make conversations with them, see what they're thinking and what they want.

Well, Thailand is the basecamp for the global business for us. And there are 3 streamers who have created a company and we've acquired this company to bring our global business to the next level. I think that was a brilliant idea there because this company by the 3 great streamers are the CEOs of the Soop, Thailand. And at the streamer party there, we could see them communicating and interacting with the Thai audience. And looking at them, I could see that these people will do a great job, and we have a strong relationship, strong partnership with the Thai audience and the global audience, of course, to start with.

And if we can add just the right features and functionalities and really focus on the P2P there, then I have no doubt that in no time, at least in Thailand, we will really position ourselves in a very, very nice place.

[Annye Seulti, executive]

[Interpreted] All right. Now that you mentioned global Soop, I do have one question in relation to that. As a streamer myself, the simulcast is something of a great interest for me. I have my signature content. And in the music category, there aren't that many competitors to be honest with you. So in the global Soop, if I can do the simulcast on the global Soop, that'd be amazing because music, it's something that is universal around the world. So what I'm doing is what we call the healing Soop. Healing for us. I invite other singers.

[Chan-Yong Jung, executive]

[Interpreted] I'm aware of it. Well, I'm honored to.

[Annye Seulti, executive]

[Interpreted] That's great that you know the contents of the business partners, not myself anyways. So if you can maybe make myself available in the simulcast for the global Soop, that would be amazing. Do I need to do anything to be part of that? Or can anybody just do it or what?

[Chan-Yong Jung, executive]

[Interpreted] Right now, we do get the application because the platform within the Thailand is mainly activated and driven by the Thai contents, the local contents there, obviously. And in Thailand, there are great users and Thai streamers. The community is being built at this moment, which means that the Korean contents or content from the Korean streamers is not something that I want to push to the Thai audience at this point.

We do have an amazing k-contents, and we're not trying to export this though, to the other countries. We want to Thai local contents to be strong in and of itself and then interact on an equal footing with the Korean content. So we're cautious about exporting ideas.

And another thing is, if the Korean contents were to be simulcast to the Thai audience, it must be received well. Only that it's meaningful. But in order for that to happen, I don't think the Thai community is just strong enough that. So we are trying to find the right timing. I hope that our contents can be simulcast in that good timing.

[Annye Seulti, executive]

[Interpreted] Well, music is a universal language. So I truly believe that music content can be shared and be well received.

[Chan-Yong Jung, executive]

[Interpreted] Yes, I'll try my best as.

[Annye Seulti, executive]

[Interpreted] Thank you for that answer. And next, Ahn Jae-min from NH Securities, asks. The others category in Ad revenue and subsidiary earnings are looking good. Were there any unique circumstances that drove this growth? And any updates?

[Kim Jiyeon, executive]

[Interpreted] On subsidiary earnings, I think that you're talking about CCTD, what about the others?

[Annye Seulti, executive]

[Interpreted] The other is category in Ad revenue.

[Kim Jiyeon, executive]

[Interpreted] This is related to our subsidiary Ad agency. It's an 11% per Q-o-Q increase. No special circumstances. It's just that our subsidiary, CCTD's performance and earnings improved because it's an Ad agency, there are some seasonality. But it's not that big of a company. So there is a little bit of up and down.

[Chan-Yong Jung, executive]

[Interpreted] CTTD is an Ad agency, and it's also a web agency. The web agency business is very stable. The partnership network that it has, has really tried and tested for a long period of time. And so based on that stable web revenue, we also have on top of that, the Ad revenue. CTTD is not a big company, but it really is quality. It's quality based. It's a really solid and robust company. If we look at the earnings, especially and how it ties in with our overall Ad business and how we can create synergies out of this is one of the tasks that we're looking in to improve upon.

[Annye Seulti, executive]

[Interpreted] Thank you for that answer. So maybe then I can ask a question. I mean, I'm probably asking too many questions. But anyways, I believe virtual is a hot thing but equipment is quite expensive. So just not so seriously, I have like one pretty image and then I hide my face behind and change my voices and sing there. But I thought maybe the virtual streamer can be a thing for me. I can have my secondary character. They call it the alter ego or the secondary characters. Maybe I'm thinking that could be something. And if so, could there be any support from Soop?

[Chan-Yong Jung, executive]

Yes. When it comes to virtual category, I think it definitely is a trend already. And Virtual has its own unique beauty and the appeal and that’s why we’re making huge investments for this. What you just mentioned is something that we internally discussed actually because there are virtual streamers already, but there are those who are regular nonvirtual streamers who are interested in also having a subsecondary account to become a virtual streamers at the same time.

And for that purpose, maybe Soop can offer some kind of support. We're thinking about this. But that does not mean we can allow for everybody to have a secondary account because there can be some other issues. You know there are many well-known virtual -- there are well-known streamers like yourselves. And if you can publicly say that I'm going to have a secondary virtual studio, that's fine.

So you say, okay, I'm a singer here. I have my own character. But just to add another layer of fun. I'm going to have another account and then I'm going to have a virtual account there, like double one, global accounts, like different subcategories within your own channel, something like that, if you can make it very publicly. And officially, that's something we are shedding positive light on, so we can maybe add some kind of support there.

[Annye Seulti, executive]

[Interpreted] All right. That's great. Virtual characters are growing in number than human characters. So I'm quite interested in that as well. Maybe I'll make that happen if and with the support from the Soop platform.

Okay. So there's another question that just popped up from Hana Chen Hana Securities. There are 2 questions. The first one is, if you compare with the pro-live structure with Twitch last year, was there any meaningful changes in at unit prices? Or do you think that the marketing execution rate drop was the main reason behind that? Are there any increase in context with advertisers other than game companies?

[Chan-Yong Jung, executive]

[Interpreted] Well, when you're talking about unit prices, the change in unit price hasn't really been that big. That's been one of my frustrations because in the Ad business, in order for the Ad business to grow, the volume of Ads, the quantity of Ads need to increase, the quality of Ads moving from small, medium enterprise agencies and then moving towards the larger ones to get that quality. It's that price point that needs to move, but there haven't been any meaningful changes in unit price.

So I think that we need to come up with better Ad solutions. It's been about 4 years since we've implemented AME. The strong Ad parts of AAM is a little bit lacking so I think that the first solution here is improving Ad solutions and also coming up with unique proprietary Ad products.

The decrease in marketing the execution by gaming companies has been a big hit. Given that landscape and environment, the gaming companies Ad volume has taken a hit. And as was mentioned in the second question, that's why we are continuing to contact nongaming company advertisers. And for that to really come to fruition, I think it needs to be at least in Q4 and onwards.

In Q2, there's been a decline. And so, beginning from there, we've continued to really contact and engage with nongaming company advertisers. So for that to become visible, it takes a bit of time about half a year. So by Q4, I believe that the results of our efforts to contact nongaming companies welcome to fruition.

[Annye Seulti, executive]

[Interpreted] Thank you very much. I wonder if there are more questions. No, not yet. Well then, a question from me again, if that's okay. Now there are many those that are coming from Twitch. So we have the new streamers and they come with their own group of fans and I know Soop offered quite a lot of advantages to those that made their way to Soop from Twitch. So what were the benefits like and how was it received? And what other benefits do you plan to offer to these people? Do we have data to back that up?

[Chan-Yong Jung, executive]

[Interpreted] Well, let me see. Maybe I can give an answer myself. So qualitatively, it's very meaningful. So let me tell you this first and foremost, Afreeca TV compared to other platforms, I mean, to those that are coming from other platforms, I understand that we were quite a difficult name, meaning we did have hurdles for them to come and make their switch to our platform. But now that they are here, they see that it's not actually true.

They thought, okay, the Afreeca TV users, I mean the streamers and users are actually too aggressive and it's not easy to be there as a streamer. That was a perception and kind of a prejudice. And some heads would say that the platform ourselves, like the management, aren't very nice and sometimes they kind of revolve their overwhelming power. But it's actually not sure they realize the management are really nice, and they can easily be accessible.

So there have been some, I guess, misunderstandings or prejudices around our platform. I understand there are some reasons for that kind of prejudice to have been built, but as of now, this could be wrong and some are very misleading. And they realize when they make the switch to Soop that they were wrong on some parts.

And not only that, we are making our efforts with the communication platform, the channels, and we're making many programs so we can be very, very easily accessible and communicative and interactive with those streamers, which makes us quite stronger in terms of communication. Other platforms aren't like that at all, from what I know, because other platforms just don't have the kind of human resource to do that. Our platform, have great manpower to be there when the streamers need to talk to us and we've had experiences and that's really the strength of ours.

So what I will tell you is that there are many streamers in our platform, the Soop, and it's important that we always meet their requirements, meet their expectations at the right time, at the right place. And that's what we plan to do and have been doing and will always aim of doing.

[Annye Seulti, executive]

[Interpreted] I invite many other platforms, I mean the streamers from other platforms and it's quite working very well. So that's why I'm asking this question. So, second half of this year sounds very, very exciting. I wonder if there are any other questions, not yet, okay.

It doesn't seem like we have too many questions today. There were times when really questions were completely flooding and we were bombarded with questions. And so, I was waiting for a lot of questions. But I think yes, the questions are at an end here.

So maybe it's time to wrap things up. All right, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for tuning into our earnings call today. And this is my first debut, actually. I hope I did good. It was an honor for me to walk you through our earnings call and I will see you next time. Thank you very much.

[Statements in English on this transcript were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]