New Kids On

Founded in 2013, NewKidsOn is an e-commerce-focused infant and children's fashion company targeting the 0-15 age group, operating roughly ten fashion brands including JELISPOON, milkmile, and mollimelli.

The company sells through major e-commerce platforms such as Coupang, Kakao, and Musinsa, as well as its integrated own-brand mall 'newkiki' and Naver Brand Store.

A key characteristic is its product differentiation through collaborations with global character IPs such as Carebears, Disney, Esther Bunny, LINE FRIENDS, and Sanrio.

In 2021, the company diversified into organic vegan cosmetics through its subsidiary Ecodermalab under the brand 'ORGABON,' which turned profitable within three years of launch.

Production follows an OEM structure in which the company controls yarn procurement, knitting, dyeing, and finishing domestically while final manufacturing takes place at overseas factories, securing cost competitiveness.

More recently, the company has been expanding into offline retail through its lifestyle brand 'Salté Library,' operated via subsidiary Salt Library, opening stores in Seoul's Bukchon and Yeonnam-dong along the Gyeongui Line Forest Park, and further into Seongsu-dong's Yeonmujang-gil.

In terms of competitive landscape, NewKidsOn operates alongside Agabang & Company and Zero to Seven among listed domestic infant/children's apparel names, though the sector faces a challenging environment amid low birth rates, with only a handful of listed peers maintaining profitability.

At listing, the company outlined plans to convert its own-brand mall into a global platform, launch new brands, and build a logistics center as part of a long-term goal to raise the share of overseas revenue.

In 2025, consolidated revenue was KRW 49.03 billion, a slight decline from KRW 50.38 billion in the prior year, while operating profit fell sharply to KRW 724 million from KRW 4.54 billion, pushing the operating margin down from 9.0% to 1.5%.

Net income attributable to owners swung to a loss of KRW 4.04 billion from a profit of KRW 2.20 billion the prior year, reflecting non-operating factors in addition to the operating decline.

Annual operating cash flow (CFO) also turned negative at KRW -2.93 billion, reversing from a positive inflow of KRW 10.48 billion the prior year, indicating a marked deterioration in cash generation. Looking at the trailing four-quarter window (2025Q3-2026Q2), quarterly performance showed pronounced volatility.

In 2025Q3, revenue was KRW 6.98 billion with an operating loss of KRW 1.41 billion and a net loss attributable to owners of KRW 1.16 billion, but revenue jumped to KRW 17.94 billion in 2025Q4, turning to an operating profit of KRW 1.29 billion and net profit of KRW 155 million.

The company then posted another loss in 2026Q1 with revenue of KRW 10.31 billion and an operating loss of KRW 509 million, before improving in 2026Q2 with revenue of KRW 16.78 billion, operating profit of KRW 1.56 billion, and net profit attributable to owners of KRW 1.34 billion, a pattern of repeated swings between quarters.

This pattern appears to reflect both the seasonality inherent in e-commerce-driven infant and children's apparel sales, concentrated around year-end and new-year peak periods, and the uneven timing of expense recognition tied to new brand launches and store investments across quarters.

On the balance sheet side, the debt ratio improved from 32.4% in 2024 to 22.3% in 2025, and total equity rose from KRW 34.50 billion to KRW 44.29 billion, indicating improved financial stability even as profitability weakened.

Korea's infant and children's fashion and goods market shows a dual structure, with continued low birth rates on one hand, but premiumization driven by the 'gold kids' consumption trend and multi-adult spending patterns on the other.

However, among listed infant/children's-related companies, only a handful reportedly maintain profitability, suggesting substantial profitability pressure across the sector.

In terms of channels, online growth has clearly outpaced offline stores, with e-commerce-specialized platforms continuing to expand transaction volumes, a trend that aligns with NewKidsOn's D2C e-commerce-oriented structure.

At the same time, a broader fashion industry trend has emerged of opening offline pop-up and flagship stores in areas popular with younger consumers such as Seongsu-dong, and NewKidsOn has joined this trend through its Salté Library lifestyle brand.

Compared to peers Agabang & Company and Zero to Seven, NewKidsOn has a structural differentiator in its higher online sales mix, and a key point to watch is whether its historically lower-than-industry-average sales expense ratio, underpinned by cost competitiveness, persists amid recent quarterly earnings volatility.

The cosmetics segment (ORGABON) is pursuing overseas expansion into markets such as China following its domestic turnaround to profitability, presenting growth potential in the infant/children's cosmetics category.

As outlined at the time of listing, the company has presented mid-to-long-term growth drivers including converting its integrated mall 'newkiki' into a global platform, launching new baby product brands, and building a logistics center, and reportedly planned to launch a new children's apparel brand, 'Esther Bunny Little,' in the second half of 2025.

On the offline front, following stores in Bukchon and Yeonnam-dong, the company reportedly planned to open a third flagship store in Seongsu-dong's Yeonmujang-gil around July 2026, continuing its lifestyle brand expansion.

On the financial side, the company entered into and completed two treasury stock trust contracts in the first half of 2026 (KRW 1 billion in March and KRW 1.5 billion in May); the KRW 1.5 billion contract was terminated early on August 6, 2026 upon completion of acquisition, with 437,674 shares returned to the company's account.

This demonstrates the company's ongoing pursuit of shareholder return policies, though whether further buybacks or cancellations will follow requires confirmation through subsequent disclosures.

The cosmetics subsidiary ORGABON is reportedly pursuing overseas expansion, including a distribution agreement in China, following its domestic turnaround to profitability, and the pace of this business's progress is a variable that could affect future results.

However, the specific timing or scale of revenue contribution from these business plans has not been confirmed through separate disclosures, so continued quarter-to-quarter earnings volatility cannot be ruled out.