S-1

S-1 Corporation is an integrated security and real-estate services company built on two pillars: a Security business and an Infrastructure business.

The Security business centers on subscription-based physical security that links devices, monitoring centers and dispatch staff over wired and wireless networks, and also covers cloud-based access and attendance management, AI video security, and digital security that protects customers' information assets.

It runs duplicated intelligent integrated monitoring centers in Suwon and Daegu, and maintains nationwide service bases, dispatch staff and its own security training institute, which the company cites as structural entry barriers.

The Infrastructure business consists of real-estate services spanning facility management and property management, plus security SI that provides consulting, design, construction and maintenance for industrial sites and mid-to-large buildings.

For 2025, a Boannews tabulation of disclosure data showed physical, digital and mobile security at 44.57% (KRW 1,287.9bn), security products 4.01%, real-estate services 28.63% (KRW 827.3bn), integrated security 17.71% (KRW 511.7bn) and security SI 11.84% (KRW 342.2bn).

For the second quarter of 2026, reports citing company IR materials put Security revenue at KRW 353.2bn and Infrastructure at KRW 366.1bn, including real-estate services of KRW 220.7bn and integrated security of KRW 127.9bn.

The customer base skews to large corporate and public clients, and includes group-related demand such as integrated employee ID systems across domestic and overseas Samsung affiliate sites, alongside large public and defense security SI projects.

On ownership, the largest shareholder is Japan's Secom with 25.7%, yet effective control rests with the Samsung affiliates that form the second-largest bloc, and chief executives have come from Samsung, while the National Pension Service held 6.57% as of end-March 2026.

The competitive field is summarized by SK Shieldus, which posted a net loss despite revenue growth, KT Telecop, which grew both revenue and net profit on AI-based new services, and Suprema, which is targeting global markets with AI integrated security solutions.

On an annual basis revenue rose four years in a row, from KRW 2,468.0bn in 2022 to KRW 2,620.8bn in 2023, KRW 2,804.7bn in 2024 and KRW 2,889.4bn in 2025.

Operating profit, by contrast, stalled at KRW 204.1bn in 2022, KRW 212.6bn in 2023 and KRW 209.2bn in 2024 before rising 12.1% to KRW 234.6bn in 2025, lifting the operating margin from 7.5% to 8.1%.

Yet 2025 net profit attributable to owners of KRW 178.6bn was essentially flat against KRW 176.7bn in 2024 and below the KRW 189.5bn of 2023, a year with lower operating profit, showing that non-operating items and taxes have driven the bottom line.

Cash generation has been consistent: operating cash flow was KRW 368.4bn in 2023, KRW 376.6bn in 2024 and KRW 368.6bn in 2025, well above operating profit, reflecting heavy depreciation of security devices in a subscription model.

The balance sheet is stable, with a 2025 debt-to-equity ratio of 38.5% and total equity of KRW 1,756.3bn.

Quarterly figures show the first quarter of 2026 as the inflection point: revenue of KRW 673.7bn and operating profit of just KRW 20.7bn, an operating margin near 3.1%, because a January Supreme Court ruling on severance calculation standards led to retroactive severance costs being concentrated in that quarter.

In the second quarter of 2026 revenue was KRW 723.1bn and operating profit KRW 64.4bn, an 8.9% margin, and Heungkuk Securities analyst Hwang Sung-jin said in an early-August 2026 report that the profit shortfall from the first-quarter one-off had been fully recovered.

Still, that revenue was below the KRW 732.7bn of the second quarter of 2025 and net profit attributable to owners of KRW 46.8bn trailed KRW 52.1bn a year earlier, reflecting security SI revenue of KRW 63.6bn, down 25.9% on delayed project start-ups.

Seasonality is also visible: the fourth quarter of 2025 delivered a record quarterly revenue of KRW 783.9bn but operating profit of only KRW 55.8bn, a weaker margin.

Korean physical security is a market shared by a few players, and S-1 Corporation is regarded as the leader with more than 50% share of the domestic guarding and security market.

Growth is inherently gradual: analysts note that because security services run on subscriptions and fees, revenue tends to rise only modestly unless spending per customer jumps or new customer additions accelerate sharply. On the demand side, the AI transition is the key variable.

In a company survey of 27,207 customers, 83% said AI-based real-time risk detection solutions were needed, up 25 percentage points from 58% a year earlier, while the number of unmanned stores is estimated to have grown from about 2,250 in 2020 to more than 10,000 in 2025, with crimes targeting them rising from 3,514 cases in 2021 to 10,847 in 2023.

In the public sector, about 44.4% of all buildings as of 2024 were more than 30 years past occupancy approval, which the company cites as the backdrop for preventive facility management demand.

Security SI, by contrast, is directly tied to capital expenditure cycles and is volatile: delayed revenue recognition on a battery plant project was named as the cause of weak second-quarter 2026 security SI, while semiconductor and data center investment and a defense border surveillance system tender are cited as future swing factors.

Real-estate services sit in a structure where a construction downturn slows near-term growth by reducing new large-building starts, even as demand for building upkeep and equipment management increases over the long run.

Versus peers, the company maintains steadier profitability, while competing on technology and price with telecom-affiliated providers in AI and cloud-based new services.

The company's stated direction is a technology shift in existing businesses plus scope expansion.

In a value-up plan disclosed on March 19, 2026, it presented AI- and robot-based new products, a shift of Security operations from labor-centric to technology-centric, expansion of building management into integrated facility management, upgraded design and construction capability plus diversification in security SI, mid-to-long-term M&A and strategic fund investment to secure future technology, and maintenance of a 50-60% dividend payout ratio for fiscal 2026.

On the earnings path, a company official said in late July 2026 that solid Security growth and expanded new building-management orders would allow revenue and profitability to improve together in the second half.

As a new-business indicator, smart school service revenue in the January-July 2026 period rose 69% year on year, and the company said it would first expand services to schools and universities before also considering overseas markets.

The timing of a security SI recovery is pivotal, and Heungkuk Securities analyst Hwang Sung-jin forecast in an August 2026 report a gradual recovery, citing semiconductor and data center investment projects in the second half and an upcoming defense border surveillance system tender.

Industry observers note that the company targets KRW 3trn of revenue in 2026 on balanced growth in security and infrastructure.

On capital policy, reports say the company has been reviewing measures such as share buybacks and cancellation in light of rising shareholder-return demands and government regulation, which remains to be confirmed.

In addition, FCP has asked the five Samsung affiliates for answers by September 23 and said it would consider further exercise of shareholder rights depending on their responses, keeping the governance calendar in focus for the second half.