Webtoon Annual Report Lists 2025 Net Loss of $373.4 Million
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WEBTOON, the giant South Korean webcomics publisher, has released its annual report.
WEBTOON Entertainment Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Financial Results:
Fourth Quarter 2025 Highlights (vs. Fourth Quarter 2024)
- Total revenue of $330.7 million declined 6.3%, driven by declines in Paid Content, Advertising and IP Adaptations.
- Revenue on a constant currency basis was $338.3 million, declining 4.1%, driven by declines in Advertising and IP Adaptations, partially offset by growth in Paid Content.
- Net Loss was $336.5 million, compared to $102.6 million in the prior year, driven by goodwill impairments.
- Adjusted EBITDA was $0.6 million, compared to $(3.5) million in the prior year, due to effective cost controls. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 0.2%, compared to (1.0%) in the prior year.
- Diluted loss per share was $2.36, compared to a diluted loss per share of $0.72 in the prior year.
- Adjusted Earnings Per Share was $0.00, compared to $(0.03) in the prior year.
Full Year 2025 Highlights (vs. Full Year 2024)
- Total revenue of $1.4 billion grew 2.5%, driven by growth in Paid Content and IP Adaptations, partially offset by a decline in Advertising.
- Revenue on a constant currency basis was $1.4 billion, growing 3.9%, driven by growth across all revenue streams – Paid Content, Advertising, and IP Adaptations.
- Net Loss was $373.4 million, compared to $152.9 million in the prior year, driven by goodwill impairments.
- Adjusted EBITDA was $19.4 million, compared to $68.0 million in the prior year as a result of lower gross profit and higher marketing expense. Adjusted EBITDA Margin was 1.5%, compared to 5.0% in the prior year.
- Diluted loss per share was $2.66, compared to a diluted loss per share of $1.21 in the prior year.
Junkoo Kim, Founder and CEO said, “We are pleased to report solid fourth quarter results, with revenue in line with our expectations and Adjusted EBITDA above the top end of our guidance range. For the full year, we delivered revenue growth of approximately 4% on a constant currency basis and Adjusted EBITDA of approximately $19 million, marking our third consecutive year of growth and profitability.”
Sean Kleefeld has a different take on the report:
Webtoon recently released their fourth quarter 2025 results. The short version is that recorded an operating loss of $13.2 million US in the quarter. And while they tried to spin that as an improvement over the fourth quarter of 2024, it’s an increase from the $11.6 million US they lost in the third quarter 2025. They also had a decrease in revenue from Q3 — $378 million US in Q3 versus $330.7 million US in Q4.
Not surprisingly, their statement tries to spin everything in a very positive light, heavily leveraging the recent agreement with Disney and talking up a number of upcoming projects. Aside from the agreement, though — which was announced back in August — they don’t really have anything to actually show…
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