이 기사는 2022년 03월 22일 08:06 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

South Korea's security service provider SK shieldus is gearing up to transition into a life care platform operator, reducing its reliance on the physical security business.

SK Square said in its report that its subsidiary SK shieldus recorded revenue of 1.55 trillion won ($1.27 billion) in 2021, up 16.8% from 1.33 trillion won in 2020.

SK shieldus, whose name changed from ADT Caps under newly formed investment holding entity SK Square, operates four businesses: physical security, cyber security, converged security and safe & care (S&C).

Among the four business areas, SK shieldus is heavily reliant on the physical security business, which recorded revenue of 917 billion won, or 59.2% of the company’s total revenue in 2021.

The physical security business, however, has been reduced over the past year as it had accounted for 66.1% of the company’s total revenue a year ago. SK shieldus’ physical security provides services like unmanned security, video surveillance, personal security and access control.

The cyber security business recorded revenue of 335.1 billion won in 2021, up 18.2% from a year ago amid growing demands for 24/7 monitoring and protection against cyber attacks, provision of telecommuting infrastructure and information protection service support.

The converged security business showed the fastest pace of growth, with its revenue nearly doubling to 244.8 billion won in 2021 compared to the previous year. SK shieldus is touting itself as the only tech-based converged security platform operator, providing services that range from consulting to solution implementation and security monitoring.

SK shieldus has expanded business-to-business deals with SK Group’s affiliates and broadened its client base thanks to the SUMiTS platform, which enables the integrated response and management of security threats occurring in various environments.

The S&C business is also growing rapidly, logging 52.8 billion won in revenue, up 39.3% year-over-year. It is attracting new subscribers fast as it has strengthened product competitiveness with artificial intelligence camera-based facial recognition technology.

Faster growth than bigger rival S-1

SK shieldus is one of the nation’s big three security platform providers alongside S-1 and KT Telecop.

The local security market is led by S-1, which recorded revenue of 2.31 trillion won in 2021. While SK shieldus’ revenue is about 67% of S-1’s, its revenue grew at a faster pace last year at 16.8%, compared to S-1’s 4%.

S-1 is more reliant on the security system service business, which accounted for 79.5% of the company’s total revenue. The remaining 20.5% came from building management solutions and call center and telemarketing businesses.

S-1’s building management solutions business saw its revenue grow by 9.5% over the past year thanks to smart building management solutions, while SK shieldus’ cyber security, converged security and S&C businesses saw a double-digit revenue growth in the same period.

S-1’s price-to-book value ratio (PBR) and the price-to-earnings ratio (PER) stand at about 1.58 times and 19.85 times, respectively. Its stock price closed at 67,400 won on March 17, about 58% of its peak of 116,500 won in 2016.

SK shieldus, which is seeking a flotation, plans to value its four business divisions separately and add up based on each business’ proportions of the company’s total revenue. Continuous growth in the converged security and S&C businesses are expected to be the key to getting a higher valuation with a premium. (Reporting by Jang-jun Lee)