Yesterday Pearl Abyss held a conference call to discuss its Q2 2021 earnings report with investors. The financial results were less than stellar.
 |
| A steady decline |
For the fifth consecutive quarter, Pearl Abyss recorded a quarter-over-quarter decline in revenue. The ₩88.5 billion ($76.5 million) in operating revenue represented a decline of 12.3% compared to the first quarter of 2021 and a year-over-year decline of 32.8%. The operating loss of ₩6 billion is the first time Pearl Abyss has reported a loss on a conference call. Pearl Abyss lists earnings presentations covering financial periods going back to Q1 2017.
 |
| Revenue for the last year broken down by category |
From the questions asked by the analysts on the call, the game with the largest decline in revenue was Black Desert Mobile. The information on the call only broke the revenue sources down by intellectual property, region, and platform. Despite not breaking down revenue by game, the information does point to Black Desert Mobile.
The big decline was in the Black Desert IP. Revenue for the IP fell down to ₩69.3 billion, or $59.9 million. The result was a drop of 16.4% quarter-over-quarter and a decline of 37.8% year-over-year. Pearl Abyss did report that revenue from North America and Europe from self-publishing was still low due accounting rules. The company could only recognize 64% of Black Desert Online sales in the second quarter. The CFO stated he hoped all sales would be fully recognized in Q4.
One big piece of news Pearl Abyss told investors was that it had received a license on 28 June to operate Black Desert Mobile in China. Pearl Abyss is partnering with iDreamSky, a large Tencent-backed company. PA also stated it is attempting to obtain a license to operate Black Desert Online in China as well.
The EVE IP (EVE Online & EVE Echoes) recorded a 2.8% increase in revenue compared to the first quarter of 2021. The ₩18.1 billion ($15.6 million) earned still represented a 4.2% decline in revenue compared to the second quarter of 2020.
 |
| The upcoming highlights for Q3 are very sparse. |
On the EVE Echoes front, Pearl Abyss told investors the mobile game launched in China on 5 August. The company told investors it had 6 million pre-orders and 1 million users on the first day, with the app store revenue ranking reaching 25th place.
 |
| Platform revenue after converting percentages to won. |
Looking at revenue by platform gives an indication of how much Black Desert Mobile has fallen over the past year. In the PC games category, revenue increased by 6.6% compared to Q1 2021, although it did suffer a year-over-year decline of 1%. Mobile revenue, on the other hand, fell by 42% from Q1 to last quarter. Compared to the second quarter of 2020, mobile revenue fell by 62.6%.
Besides BDM, the other big topic the analysts on the call wanted to discuss was the future of Crimson Desert. While denying a lengthy delay in the launch of Crimson Desert, the company did confirm the game will launch before two other games in development, DokeV and Plan 8. Presumably that means the launch of the other two games will be delayed as well.
Overall, not a good quarter for Pearl Abyss. But if the price of stock is any indication, investors had already factored the news into the price. The call took place before the market open and the price closed down 0.73% to ₩68,100.
 |
| Pearl Abyss trading history on 11 August 2021 |
No comments:
Post a Comment