Hive Reports Record High Revenue of 1.7 Trillion KRW Last Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hyowon] HYBE, the agency of the group BTS (Bangtan Sonyeondan), recorded its highest-ever sales last year.

HYBE announced on the 21st that its consolidated sales for last year reached 1.778 trillion KRW, a 41.6% increase compared to the previous year. Operating profit for the same period rose 24.9% to 237.7 billion KRW.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

By segment, concert sales, which are part of direct participation revenue, surged 470.1% year-on-year to 258.2 billion KRW, thanks to the lifting of social distancing measures for COVID-19 prevention.

HYBE explained, "The global fandoms of our artists, including BTS, Seventeen, Tomorrow X Together, and Enhypen, have expanded, and new artists such as Le Sserafim, NewJeans, and Anthem have grown rapidly. Additionally, sales grew through diversification of products such as content, MD (merchandise), and games."

HYBE CEO Park Ji-won said during a conference call in the afternoon, "The reason why various teams can be active simultaneously is because of HYBE's multi-label system that started in 2019. The success of NewJeans is due to the presence of creators like CEO Min Hee-jin who break existing molds and lead the market, and the label infrastructure that operates independently and shares various business ideas with members."

CEO Park added, "BTS members will actively engage in individual activities and communicate with fans ahead of their military service. Jimin will release a solo album in March, and Suga will embark on a world tour starting in April in the US, Japan, and other countries."

He continued, "HYBE is also preparing plans for the members to return as a complete group after fulfilling their military duties, as fans wish. The company plans to fully support this."

This year, HYBE will launch the 'byFans' service in the second quarter, allowing fans to design merchandise directly, and introduce a subscription-based membership service in the third quarter, exploring various new revenue streams.

Moreover, HYBE plans to double the scale of concerts this year for its three major groups: Seventeen, Tomorrow X Together, and Enhypen, compared to last year. Lil Baby, a famous rapper under QC Media Holdings, a US hip-hop label recently acquired by HYBE, will also hold a large-scale concert tour this year.

CEO Park said, "Last year, BTS took the first step toward the next chapter to become more mature artists. In 2023, HYBE will solidify all these businesses and once again prove the HYBE DNA," expressing confidence.

Despite temporarily halting group activities with the enlistment of the eldest member Jin, BTS still supports more than half of HYBE's sales.

CFO Lee Kyung-joon said, "The proportion of all other artists excluding BTS recorded around the mid-40% range. Among them, Seventeen still recorded the highest sales, followed by Tomorrow X Together, Enhypen, and rookie groups in that order."

HYBE also announced plans to implement shareholder return policies starting in 2024, including dividends and share buybacks within 30% of consolidated net profit.