South Korea’s preschool content provider SmartStudy Co., the operator of Pinkfong Baby Shark, recorded the highest sales since its founding last year after Baby Shark characters and catchy songs created a massive splash across the globe.

The company announced on Tuesday that its operating profit on a consolidated basis last year surged 363 percent from a year ago to 34.7 billion won ($28.2 million) and sales jumped 164 percent to 105.5 billion won.

The stellar performance was driven by its overseas business that generated 80.8 billion won in sales, accounting for 80 percent of the entire revenue. In particular, sales from the North American market took up 50 percent of the total revenue.

The company signed licensing agreements with various companies including Crocs, Kellogg, Hasbro, Spin Master and WowWee to launch more than 250 products featuring Pinkfong Baby Shark characters.

Pinkfong Baby Shark Sound Doll ranked top at Amazon’s toy and game sector and Pinkfong Baby Shark cereal became the best-selling cereal at Walmart.

“We achieved a milestone of 100 billion won in sales in ten years since foundation,” said SmartStudy CEO Kim Min-seok. “With the planned launch of Baby Shark animation this year, we will continue to work hard to broaden our presence in the global market with our popular characters and content.”

By Hong Sung-yong and Choi Mira

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]