Coucon posts double-digit quarterly growth in sales, operating profit

Coucon, the business data platform unit of Webcash Group, posted second-quarter sales of 17.96 billion won ($12.9 million) and operating profit of 4.96 billion won, up 12.2 percent and 10.9 percent, respectively, from the previous quarter.

The company announced the results Friday, saying it held its regular second-quarter investor relations session Thursday at its headquarters in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, where it also outlined key business developments and second-half strategy.

By segment, the data division recorded sales of 8.65 billion won and operating profit of 2.72 billion won, maintaining an operating margin of 31.5 percent. Growth was driven largely by an expansion of new customers for its financial MyData service.

The payment division posted sales of 9.31 billion won and operating profit of 2.23 billion won, sustaining steady growth. Coucon attributed the performance to new customer acquisition among major payment gateway operators, higher transaction volumes, stable transaction flows through its BigTech COATM service, and stronger sales of higher-margin products.

Progress on new businesses also became more visible alongside the earnings growth. In its AI data business, Coucon became the first company in South Korea to open a Model Context Protocol-based data API product catalog, launching more than 30 products in the second quarter. It plans to expand the lineup to about 100 products in the second half of the year and complete the transition of its entire product range to MCP-based APIs by 2027.

In its global payments business, Coucon launched seven mobile payment services through partnerships with UnionPay, WeChat Pay, Alipay, PayPay, Indonesia's QRIS and Liquad Group. The company is expanding its global payments infrastructure on the back of alliances with more than 50 payment partners across 20 countries. In the second half, it plans to grow its merchant network by focusing on sectors with high foreign-visitor demand, such as hospitals and large franchise operators.

In its stablecoin business, Coucon completed end-to-end pilot testing — covering stablecoin (USDC and USDT) top-ups, QR payments, ATM withdrawals and settlement — in partnership with domestic and overseas digital asset operators.

The company is also accelerating its overseas expansion. It plans to establish a local subsidiary in Singapore this year and pursue a Singapore MPI (electronic money institution) license by the end of 2027. Using Singapore as a hub, Coucon intends to extend its reach into the Southeast Asian market of about 700 million people through e-commerce payment settlement, B2B fund settlement and a stablecoin platform.

Coucon is also strengthening its shareholder return policy. On Aug. 5, the company signed a treasury share acquisition trust agreement worth 5 billion won. It aims to maximize shareholder returns by allocating 20 to 30 percent of the prior year's operating profit to dividends and buybacks. Alongside this, the company plans to secure new growth engines and enhance corporate value through strategic investment and mergers and acquisitions.

"In the second quarter, both the data and payment segments delivered balanced growth, while new businesses including AI data, global payments and stablecoins entered full execution mode," said Kim Jong-hyun, chief executive of Coucon. "In the second half, we will work to materialize our future growth engines by expanding the MCP-based data API business and strengthening global payment infrastructure, and actively pursue new business opportunities."

He added that the company would use the establishment of its Singapore subsidiary as a springboard to expand its global business base and local partnerships, while continuing shareholder return policies to raise both shareholder and corporate value.

Meanwhile, Coucon recently announced it had supplied integrated services to KSNet, a comprehensive payment services company led by CEO Park Han-guk — including its non-face-to-face customer verification service eKYC Plug-In and an all-in-one anti-money laundering package. The integration enables advance identification of high-risk merchants and supports a systematic response process covering detection, investigation and follow-up action when suspicious transactions occur.

The services are positioned as a response to rising financial crimes exploiting payment gateway networks and virtual accounts. By managing the entire process — from customer verification to anti-money laundering compliance — within a single workflow, the solution is expected to improve AML response efficiency for electronic financial service providers while also raising their internal control standards.