Cybersecurity company Genians said on Thursday its first-quarter consolidated sales in 2026 rose 25.5 percent from a year earlier to 11.74 billion won. Operating profit came to 1.74 billion won in the same period, up more than 47 times from a year earlier. Despite the first quarter being a traditionally slow season, the company assessed that it significantly improved profitability and entered a full-fledged turnaround phase. The company said growth was driven by its existing core businesses such as NAC (network access control) and EDR (endpoint detection and response), as well as expansion of service businesses including cloud NAC and MDR (managed detection and response). The company said its next-generation growth engines, zero trust and its home network security solution, Genian Home, launched in the first quarter, also secured meaningful customers.

The company said the Anthropic AI "Mythos" issue, a recent topic in the security industry, is also expected to become a growth opportunity. A report by independent research firm Valuefinder said the shock from Mythos is expected to accelerate growth in the EDR market compared with before.

Genians also moved actively to enhance corporate value based on its earnings growth. It previously announced a corporate value enhancement plan that includes maintaining a payout ratio of 20 to 25 percent through a shareholder return policy aligned with global standards, expanding sales in global markets, expanding its service and managed security businesses, and establishing a stable profit structure.

Genians said it expects demand to grow further in the second half for its integrated defense system combining NAC, EDR and ZTNA, as AI-based cyberattacks accelerate. It also said tougher government regulatory policies, including amendments to the Personal Information Protection Act that allow fines of up to 10 percent of revenue in the event of hacking incidents, and increased investment in AI security infrastructure will become new opportunities.

Chief Executive Dong-beom Lee (이동범) said, "The arrival of the AI era is accelerating the process of separating the wheat from the chaff among security companies, and Genians is the only company proving its value with technological capabilities and tangible financial performance." He added, "Riding the momentum from the first quarter, in which we succeeded in a turnaround, we will continue growth in the second half through responses to AI threats and global expansion."