Seoul Information Service

Seoul Credit Information (formerly SCI Pyeongga Jeongbo) was founded in 1992 as a credit investigation firm and subsequently obtained debt collection authorization in 1998 and credit inquiry authorization in 1999, building a comprehensive credit information service structure.

Its business consists of four pillars—credit rating, credit inquiry, credit investigation, and debt collection—while subsidiary Seoul Credit Rating separately handles credit ratings for commercial paper (CP), asset-backed securities (ABS), and electronic short-term bonds.

Flagship services include the personal credit management platform SIREN24, the corporate credit rating service BIZRATING, and the Tech Credit Bureau (TCB) for technology finance, alongside rating services for public and private-sector bids.

Core demand comes from corporate finance, financial institutions, and the public sector, with credit inquiry, debt collection, and credit investigation forming the main revenue base.

The company has recently partnered with value-added network operators to incorporate non-financial data such as sole-proprietor sales and payment information into its credit assessments, reinforcing competitiveness through corporate credit and transaction information and real estate data.

It is also pursuing business diversification through generative AI adoption to improve report quality, publication of technology analysis reports, and technology-listing consulting services.

Competitors include Korea Ratings, NICE Information Service, Korea Credit Information Services, NICE D&B, and eCredible, forming a multi-way competitive landscape in the credit inquiry and rating market.

The company has also invested in Nextrade-Musiccow (NXT), which received preliminary approval for a security token over-the-counter exchange, expanding its portfolio into digital finance.

Annual results show a clear recovery trajectory. Revenue fell from KRW 40.90 billion in 2022 to KRW 34.37 billion in 2023, then rebounded to KRW 38.08 billion in 2024 and KRW 41.26 billion in 2025.

Operating profit plunged from KRW 4.58 billion in 2022 to KRW 0.40 billion in 2023, then recovered to KRW 5.16 billion in 2024 and KRW 6.76 billion in 2025, lifting the operating margin from 1.2% in 2023 to 16.4% in 2025.

Owner net income also passed a trough of KRW 0.44 billion in 2023 before rising to KRW 2.76 billion in 2024 and KRW 6.93 billion in 2025, with profit recovery outpacing revenue growth.

Quarterly results reveal significant volatility. 2Q25 delivered notably strong results with revenue of KRW 15.45 billion, operating profit of KRW 6.51 billion, and owner net income of KRW 5.06 billion, and 2Q26 showed a similarly concentrated pattern with revenue of KRW 17.33 billion, operating profit of KRW 7.40 billion, and owner net income of KRW 5.74 billion.

In contrast, 3Q25 (revenue KRW 8.91 billion, operating profit KRW 0.77 billion), 4Q25 (revenue KRW 8.32 billion, an operating loss of KRW 0.76 billion), and 1Q26 (revenue KRW 8.83 billion, operating profit KRW 0.27 billion, a net loss of KRW 0.46 billion) were comparatively weak or loss-making.

This quarterly variance appears linked to seasonal revenue recognition concentrated in specific quarters or one-off items, making it difficult to simply annualize any single quarter's results.

On the cash flow side, operating cash flow turned negative at KRW -1.75 billion in 2023 before improving markedly to KRW 7.25 billion in 2024 and KRW 7.92 billion in 2025, confirming that the profit recovery was accompanied by genuine improvement in cash generation.

South Korea's credit information industry is seeing growth opportunities as data utilization expands following amendments to the Three Data Laws and identity-verification demand rises alongside increasing non-face-to-face transactions.

In particular, internet banks' full-scale entry into the sole-proprietor lending market has sharply increased demand for sole-proprietor credit evaluation, making expanded partner-data coverage a common competitive factor across the industry.

The credit inquiry and rating market features multiple competing players including Korea Ratings, NICE Information Service, Korea Credit Information Services, NICE D&B, and eCredible, each pursuing differentiation through data assets and evaluation model upgrades.

The Tech Credit Bureau (TCB) segment is structurally tied to policy changes, as amendments to technology-finance guidelines expanding the pool of eligible companies and adjustments to report pricing directly affect industry-wide revenue.

The debt-collection business is expanding into new service areas such as pre-occupancy balance collection and advance asset investigation, and given the high proportion of fixed costs in the business, revenue growth can produce a relatively larger improvement in operating margin.

Expansion into new digital finance areas such as security tokens (STOs) is being discussed industry-wide as a potential new growth axis for existing credit rating and data providers.

Overall, the sector is highly sensitive to regulatory and policy shifts, with amendments to laws such as the Personal Information Protection Act and the Credit Information Act continuing to shape the business environment.

In its value-up plan announced in July 2026, the company presented three pillars: strengthening business competitiveness through new business development and AI transformation, expanding shareholder returns based on a high-dividend policy, and enhancing shareholder communication and management transparency.

Leveraging its status as a high-dividend company under the Restriction of Special Taxation Act, the company stated it would maintain a stable high-dividend policy—having already expanded its 2025 dividend payout year over year—while pursuing dividends alongside treasury stock cancellation and buybacks in parallel.

It cancelled 355,000 treasury shares (about 1% of shares outstanding) in March 2026, and as of July was conducting an additional buyback of roughly KRW 1.2 billion, stating it would continue a cancellation-focused policy for its remaining treasury shares (about 4% of shares outstanding).

On the business side, the company continues to expand data coverage through partnerships with value-added network operators, upgrade its sole-proprietor credit evaluation framework, and secure new revenue sources such as corporate transaction information inquiry services.

Hana Securities stated in a March 2026 report that the treasury stock cancellation could be expected to reduce shares outstanding and enhance per-share value, and assessed that expansion into digital finance areas beyond the company's stable core business could become a key variable going forward.

LS Securities stated in a February 2026 report that new service launches such as pre-occupancy balance collection and advance asset investigation were expanding the company's scale, and that given the business's high fixed-cost structure, revenue growth could be expected to improve operating margin (no investment rating or price target was provided).

Participation in the security token business through the Nextrade-Musiccow (NXT) investment is also an ongoing matter worth observing for concrete progress in the partnership.