Polaris Office Standalone Operating Profit Surges 112%... AI and AX Investments Drive Profitability Soar

Polaris Office (041020) significantly boosted its profitability in the first half of this year through proactive investments in artificial intelligence (AI) and AI transformation (AX). The core office business more than doubled its standalone operating profit compared to the same period last year, reaching nearly the same level as the annual operating profit for all of last year in just six months. The company's business-to-business (B2B) operations and new services also showed growth, further contributing to improved performance.

Polaris Office announced on August 18 that its consolidated revenue for the first half of the year was KRW 159.6 billion, with operating profit at KRW 6.0 billion and net income at KRW 15.4 billion. Compared to the same period last year, revenue increased by 3.5%, operating profit by 7.1%, and net income soared by 177%.

In particular, the profitability of its core business saw significant improvement. Standalone revenue for Polaris Office in the first half was approximately KRW 14.6 billion, an 18% increase from the same period last year, while operating profit surged by 112% to about KRW 2.7 billion. This represents roughly 98% of last year’s total standalone operating profit for the company.

The company has continuously invested in research and development and service advancement, aiming to internalize AI technologies and secure an early foothold in the AX market. The integration of such technological investments into its traditional office business is now beginning to be reflected in revenue growth and improved profitability this year.

Growth in the corporate solutions segment also underpinned the improved results. In the first half, B2B revenue reached about KRW 5.7 billion, a 49% increase compared to the same period last year. The main drivers include the stable increase in recurring revenue from cloud-based office solutions and enterprise collaboration tools, as well as expanded sales of enterprise products such as software development kits (SDKs), converters, and web office solutions.

Results are also emerging from new services. The 'Office Assistant' value-added service based on the mobile carrier PASS app has achieved strong sales, establishing itself as a new source of recurring revenue. Applying existing office technology to a large-scale user platform has allowed the company to further diversify its revenue streams.

The surge in consolidated net income also reflected investment-related gains. Polaris AI Pharma realized investment earnings by selling part of its stake in Alpha Tau Medical, a NASDAQ-listed company in the US.

While Polaris AI Pharma has realized investment gains by selling part of its holdings, it continues to retain the remaining shares. Alpha Tau Medical recently received approval to sell 'Alpha DaRT' in Japan and has signed a strategic commercialization agreement with Tolmar to enter the US prostate cancer market, expanding its operations. Accordingly, Polaris AI Pharma anticipates the potential for additional investment returns as the value of its remaining shares appreciates.

Existing manufacturing affiliates, such as those in automotive parts, synthetic yarns, and active pharmaceutical ingredients, also maintained stable performance, supporting consolidated results.

In the second half of the year, Polaris Office plans to further expand its AX business, focusing mainly on B2B and business-to-government (B2G) sectors. In particular, Polaris AI Handy—which has a strong client base in the public and financial sectors—will combine its document and AI technologies to proactively target demand for AX transformation in both public institutions and enterprises.

A Polaris Office representative stated, “Our proactive investments in AI and AX are now translating from technology development to tangible increases in revenue and operating profit. B2B has grown by nearly 50% based on recurring revenue from cloud and collaboration solutions, and with new product lines like Office Assistant performing well, our core business growth model has become even stronger.”

The representative added, “In the second half of the year, we will fully leverage business synergies with Polaris AI Handy to create new growth momentum in the B2G and AX markets.”

Polaris Office, together with affiliates such as Polaris Sewon, Polaris Uno, Polaris AI, Polaris AI Pharma, and Polaris AI Handy, is expanding its business into software and AI, pharmaceuticals & biotech, automotive parts, and materials. The company seeks to maximize synergy across these segments through its 'vertical AI' strategy, which integrates the industry-specific data and expertise of each affiliate with AI technologies.

Ultimately, Polaris Office is not only linking prior investments in AI and AX to its core business profitability but is also strengthening its AI-based growth structure by expanding B2B, B2G, and new services.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.