[Edaily Reporter Hyera Lee ] On the 23rd, DB Securities maintained its “Buy” investment rating and target price of 26,000 won for CheilWorldwide(030000), stating, “Long-term cost savings are expected from the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in the advertising production process, and the company’s robust shareholder return policy is expected to continue.”

Shin Eun-jeong, an analyst at DB Securities, explained, “Production efficiency is improving as AI is applied across the entire advertising production process,” adding, “In the long term, we expect this to lead to reduced selling, general, and administrative expenses (SG&A) and improved profitability.”
CheilWorldwide is efficiently managing production personnel and costs by utilizing its proprietary AI solutions, including “CopyJoe” for generating ad copy, “ImageJoe” for visualizing artwork, “ContiJoe” for automatically designing storyboards, and “FilmJoe” for supporting video production. Researcher Shin analyzed, “With sales of enterprise AI solutions also expanding, B2B revenue growth is expected.”
The firm projected that the company would be able to maintain its performance in the second quarter despite a slowdown in the advertising market. DB Securities estimated that CheilWorldwide’s second-quarter gross profit would reach 494.9 billion won and operating profit 94.0 billion won, representing year-over-year increases of 2.3% and 2.0%, respectively.
The firm also expressed optimism regarding agency work volume in Shinhung markets and new domestic advertising from non-affiliated clients. Analyst Shin noted, “Major affiliates continue to cut domestic and international marketing expenses,” but added, “An increase in agency business volume in Shinhung markets such as Southeast Asia and Latin America, along with the acquisition of new domestic non-affiliated advertisers, will underpin earnings.” He further assessed, “While the China business is expected to underperform due to the closure of some branches, IRIS Europe (the UK subsidiary) is narrowing its losses.”
The company’s shareholder returns are also still considered attractive. Analyst Shin said, “Although annual operating profit may decline slightly due to one-time costs in the first quarter, net income will benefit from a year-over-year base effect, so there should be no issues with dividends,” adding, “The expected dividend per share (DPS) for this year is 1,320 won, and based on the recent stock price, the expected dividend yield is around 7%.” He added, “From a long-term perspective, the appeal of investing in high-dividend stocks remains valid.”