PER, EPS, PBR and BPS are calculated in-house from the last 4 quarters (2025Q3–2026Q2) · Dividend yield is based on ₩200 per share · Prices as of the 2026-10-02 close
Korea Information Certificate Authority posted sharply improved revenue and operating profit in 2025, while emerging security tokenization (STO) and post-quantum cryptography (PQC) initiatives are surfacing as medium-term growth options.
2025 consolidated revenue reached KRW 138.4 billion and operating profit KRW 27.0 billion, up sharply year over year, lifting the operating margin to 19.5%.
Quarterly operating margins have stayed in the low-to-mid 20% range through 2026, though net income briefly plunged in the fourth quarter of 2025 despite higher revenue.
Capital Markets Act and Electronic Securities Act amendments enabling security token offerings (STO) passed the National Assembly in January 2026, and the company has a history of STO collaboration with Kiwoom Securities and FairSquareLab.
The company is participating in an ETRI-led national project to develop and demonstrate post-quantum cryptography (PQC)-based joint certificate PKI infrastructure, building capability in next-generation authentication.
Between March and May 2026, the company retired treasury shares through a capital reduction, cutting shares outstanding by about 4.36% as a shareholder-return measure.
Korea Information Certificate Authority (KICA) was established in 1999 as Korea's first electronic certification authority and listed on KOSDAQ in February 2014.
The company provides joint (universal) certificate services, global certification, simplified authentication, IoT authentication, and AI-based security and authentication services, expanding from its public-certificate-era market position into next-generation technologies such as FIDO-based simple authentication, cloud electronic signatures, and ultra-simple non-face-to-face authentication.
The joint certificate business treats general-purpose corporate certificates as its strategic core market, generating a recurring revenue structure of new issuance and renewals, with revenue recognized over the multi-year contract terms typical of certificate sales.
The global certification business centers on SSL certificates and code-signing certificates, also built on a new-issuance-plus-renewal revenue model. Rounding out the portfolio are the electronic document and e-signature solution "SignOK" and PKI/FIDO-based authentication solutions.
Historical data (from the 2022 standalone-basis business report) indicated a revenue mix of roughly 61.7% certificates, 8.3% PKI solutions, 20% authentication security, and 10% other (SignOK), suggesting the joint certificate business likely remains the largest single revenue contributor.
Its customer base includes major platform operators such as the telecom carriers' PASS certificate issuance and Samsung Pass S-PASS/Samsung Pay's FIDO-based authentication platform, while competing alongside telecom carriers, Kakao, Naver, and Toss in private certification, and Modusign and GlobalSign in e-signatures.
More recently, the company has expanded into digital identity and digital finance platforms by investing in blockchain firm FairSquareLab and partnering with Kiwoom Securities on security token offering (STO) initiatives.
| Quarter | Revenue | Operating profit | Op. margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025Q2 | ₩33.1B | ₩6.6B | 20.1% |
| 2025Q3 | ₩33.2B | ₩8.3B | 25.1% |
| 2025Q4 | ₩38.6B | ₩5.8B | 15.1% |
| 2026Q1 | ₩35.6B | ₩9.1B | 25.7% |
| 2026Q2 | ₩36.9B | ₩8.5B | 23.1% |
| Year | Revenue | Operating profit | Net income (parent) | Op. margin | ROE | Debt-to-equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | ₩87.8B | ₩15.7B | ₩6.2B | 17.9% | 3.6% | 31.4% |
| 2023 | ₩92.2B | ₩14B | ₩9.3B | 15.1% | 5.3% | 47.3% |
| 2024 | ₩121.9B | ₩18.9B | ₩11.2B | 15.5% | 5.9% | 74.6% |
| 2025 | ₩138.5B | ₩27.1B | ₩26.2B | 19.5% | 12.8% | 69.0% |
Consolidated basis (financial statements including subsidiaries) · Final figures from DART filings · Net income attributable to owners of the parent · Data as of 2026-08-22
Consolidated revenue rose for four consecutive years, from KRW 87.8 billion in 2022 to KRW 92.2 billion in 2023, KRW 121.9 billion in 2024, and KRW 138.5 billion in 2025.
Operating profit dipped briefly from KRW 15.7 billion in 2022 to KRW 14.0 billion in 2023 before expanding to KRW 18.9 billion in 2024 and KRW 27.1 billion in 2025, with the operating margin improving from 17.9% (2022) and 15.1% (2023) through 15.5% (2024) to 19.5% (2025).
Net income attributable to owners climbed even faster than revenue, from KRW 6.2 billion in 2022 to KRW 9.3 billion in 2023, KRW 11.2 billion in 2024, and KRW 26.2 billion in 2025.
On a quarterly basis, operating margins exceeded 20% in the second quarter of 2025 (revenue KRW 33.1 billion, operating profit KRW 6.6 billion) and the third quarter (revenue KRW 33.2 billion, operating profit KRW 8.3 billion).
However, in the fourth quarter of 2025, revenue rose to KRW 38.6 billion while operating profit fell to KRW 5.8 billion and owners' net income dropped sharply to KRW 1.8 billion, a quarter where revenue and operating profit growth diverged from net income.
This pattern suggests possible one-off expenses or tax/minority-interest-related items outside core operations, and it is worth watching whether subsequent disclosures clarify the cause.
The first quarter of 2026 saw a rebound to KRW 35.6 billion in revenue, KRW 9.1 billion in operating profit, and KRW 6.2 billion in owners' net income, while the second quarter posted KRW 36.9 billion in revenue, KRW 8.5 billion in operating profit, and KRW 5.2 billion in owners' net income, stabilizing the operating margin back into the low-to-mid 20% range.
Owners' net income across the trailing four quarters (Q3 2025 through Q2 2026) totaled KRW 19.5 billion, indicating the earnings recovery has continued on a rolling annual basis as well.
The debt ratio, meanwhile, rose sharply from 31.4% in 2022 to 74.6% in 2024 before easing to 69.0% in 2025, reflecting parallel changes in the capital structure.
Korea's e-signature and authentication market has seen intensifying competition since the 2020 abolition of the public certificate system, as telecom carriers, Kakao, Naver, and Toss entered en masse, though KICA has maintained a competitive edge in the corporate customer base owing to the broad usability of its joint certificates.
One market research forecast (as of 2022) projected the global e-signature market would grow at a 31% compound annual rate through 2026 to reach USD 14.1 billion, underscoring the sector's longstanding growth narrative.
Domestic e-signature competition features KICA's SignOK alongside Modusign and GlobalSign, with ongoing competition to win corporate clients. More recently, two new addressable markets have emerged: security token offerings (STO) and post-quantum cryptography (PQC).
On January 15, 2026, the National Assembly passed amendments to the Electronic Securities Act and Capital Markets Act enabling STO, establishing the legal basis for recognizing distributed ledgers as legally valid securities account books.
According to reports citing Hana Financial Institute forecasts, Korea's STO market is expected to grow from roughly KRW 34 trillion in 2024 to KRW 119 trillion in 2025 and KRW 367 trillion by 2030, potentially creating new demand for identity-verification and authentication providers.
However, the law's implementation is scheduled for early 2027 after a roughly one-year grace period following promulgation, meaning a time lag remains before commercialization becomes tangible.
Separately, as concerns grow over quantum computing potentially breaking existing cryptographic systems, the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Institute for Information and Communications Technology Planning and Evaluation (IITP) are expanding PQC pilot-transition support programs into telecommunications, finance, transportation, defense, and space, pointing to gradually rising demand for PQC-based authentication infrastructure.
In March 2026, the board resolved to retire 1,850,265 treasury shares through a capital reduction, with April 30, 2026 set as the reduction record date and May 22, 2026 as the re-listing date, cutting shares outstanding from 42,441,361 to 40,591,096 — a shareholder-value measure that structurally affects per-share metrics.
On the new-business front, the STO cooperation memorandum signed with Kiwoom Securities and FairSquareLab in early 2023 remains relevant, and January 2026's STO legislation could open opportunities for KICA to provide authentication services as an identity-verification institution.
However, since implementation is scheduled for early 2027 and sub-regulations such as over-the-counter exchange preliminary approvals are still being finalized, the timing of any actual revenue contribution remains uncertain.
On the technology side, the company is participating alongside the Korea Internet & Security Agency and CryptoLab in an ETRI-led, Ministry of Science and ICT/IITP-supported project (2025-2028) to develop and demonstrate PQC-based joint certificate PKI infrastructure, and in June 2026 a research platform for verifying various certificate structures was unveiled as part of that project.
The core joint certificate business is expected to maintain a stable revenue stream underpinned by high corporate renewal rates, with authentication solution demand likely to grow gradually alongside the spread of cloud and non-face-to-face services.
Overall, the structure layers two policy-linked new-business options — STO and PQC — atop the stable cash flow of the existing joint certificate business, making it important to track the concrete commercialization timeline and revenue contribution of each event sequentially.
Since owners' net income has grown steadily and profitably every year from 2022 through 2025 without a loss-making year, the general direction of earnings recovery is fairly clearly established.
That said, quarters such as the fourth quarter of 2025 — where revenue rose but net income fell sharply — show that quarterly volatility should be factored in.
Market trading multiples are often compared against the historical valuation bands of KOSDAQ-listed authentication and security companies, and the share price relative to net assets has moved between premium and discount zones at different points in time.
The 2026 capital reduction via treasury share retirement reduced shares outstanding and changed the base for per-share calculations, an effect worth monitoring as it flows through future earnings releases.
On dividends, the company has a history of maintaining cash distributions, though the specific payout ratio or yield level will depend on each year's disclosed dividend decision.
These are factual reference points rather than value judgments in any particular direction, and readers are encouraged to interpret them comprehensively on their own.
PER, EPS, PBR and BPS are all calculated in-house (the same method as Naver and Toss) · Dividend yield = cash dividend per share from DART filings (supplemented by KRX) ÷ current price · As of 2026-08-22
Revenue grew for four straight years from 2022 to 2025 while the operating margin improved from the mid-teens to 19.5%, and owners' net income rose sharply from KRW 6.2 billion to KRW 26.2 billion over the same period.
Quarterly operating margins remained in the low-to-mid 20% range through the first half of 2026, continuing the earnings recovery. This can be read as the combined effect of revenue growth and margin improvement.
January 2026's STO legislation passed the National Assembly, and the company's collaboration history with Kiwoom Securities and FairSquareLab positions it for a potentially expanded role as an identity-verification and authentication provider.
At the same time, participation in the ETRI-led PQC-based joint certificate PKI national project (2025-2028) is building next-generation authentication capability. Both areas can be classified as policy-linked growth options.
In March through May 2026, the company retired treasury shares via a capital reduction, cutting shares outstanding by about 4.36% from roughly 42.44 million to 40.59 million.
This can be interpreted as a shareholder-value measure achieved through reducing shares outstanding, alongside a continued history of cash dividend payments.
In the fourth quarter of 2025, revenue rose to KRW 38.6 billion while operating profit fell to KRW 5.8 billion and owners' net income plunged to KRW 1.8 billion. This illustrates that revenue and profit trends can diverge, and similar non-operating swing factors cannot be ruled out in the future.
STO-related legislation passed the National Assembly in January 2026, but actual implementation is set for early 2027, and reports indicate sub-regulations such as over-the-counter exchange preliminary approvals have faced delays.
The PQC-related project is also in a four-year (2025-2028) demonstration phase, meaning more time is likely needed before it translates into commercial revenue.
Since the 2020 abolition of the public certificate system, large platform operators including telecom carriers, Kakao, Naver, and Toss have entered the authentication market, and competitors such as Modusign and GlobalSign also operate in e-signatures.
Given the capital resources and user bases of major platform operators, competing for corporate clients remains an ongoing challenge.
Sub-regulations for the STO law, including implementing decrees and supervisory rules, are still being finalized, and preliminary approval reviews for over-the-counter exchanges have already been delayed.
If the pace or direction of regulatory finalization differs from expectations, the commercialization timeline for new businesses could be pushed back.
The joint certificate market involves competition with large private certification providers such as telecom carriers, Kakao, Naver, and Toss. In e-signatures, competitors such as Modusign and GlobalSign also exist, sustaining ongoing competition for customer acquisition and retention.
As seen in the fourth quarter of 2025, revenue growth and a sharp net income drop can occur in the same quarter, making it difficult to infer profit trends from revenue figures alone. The impact of non-operating items or tax/minority-interest-related factors needs to be checked on a quarterly basis.
Check whether the Q3 2026 quarterly report is filed and review the disclosed results to assess whether the recent earnings recovery trend continues.
Monitor progress on implementing decrees and supervisory rules for the STO law, as well as over-the-counter exchange preliminary approvals, to gauge the timing of STO-related commercialization.
Track follow-up results or expanded demonstrations from the ETRI-led PQC-based joint certificate PKI infrastructure development project (2025-2028).
Confirm the actual implementation date of the STO law and the state of initial market launch to assess whether it translates into demand for the company's authentication services.
Korea Information Certificate Authority has clearly demonstrated an earnings recovery, with revenue and owners' net income growing steadily from 2022 through 2025. That said, quarters such as Q4 2025 — where revenue rose while net income plunged — highlight quarterly volatility that warrants close attention.
The core joint certificate business maintains stable cash flow underpinned by corporate customer renewal rates, layered with two policy-linked new-business options in STO (security token offerings) and PQC (post-quantum cryptography).
While the factual basis for both — legislation passage and national project participation — is confirmed, actual STO law implementation is scheduled for early 2027 and the PQC project remains in a multi-year demonstration phase through 2028, leaving the timing of any revenue contribution uncertain.
The 2026 capital reduction via treasury share retirement was a shareholder-return measure that reduced shares outstanding, and how this flows through future financial metrics is worth watching.
On competition, the company continues to face large private authentication providers such as telecom carriers, Kakao, Naver, and Toss, a factor that could constrain the growth pace of its existing business.
Overall, this is a company where a stable core business coexists with still-uncertain new-business options, making it important to continue tracking both quarterly results and the progress of STO/PQC-related regulations and projects.
Report written 2026-09-05 · Data as of 2026-09-04
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