BTS Absent but Sales Soar... HYBE Sets New Record with 640.5 Billion KRW in Q2

3.1%↑ ... Record Highest Quarterly Sales Ever
Surpassing 621 Billion KRW in Q2 Last Year
Operating Profit 50.9 Billion KRW... Down 37.4% YoY

HYBE recorded its highest quarterly sales ever, driven by strong domestic album sales and increased usage of its fandom platform Weverse.

On the 7th, HYBE announced that its consolidated sales for the second quarter of this year reached 640.5 billion KRW, with an operating profit of 50.9 billion KRW. Compared to the same period last year, sales rose by 3.1%, while operating profit fell by 37.4%. Notably, sales hit an all-time high, surpassing the previous record set in the second quarter of last year (621 billion KRW).

For the first half of the year, HYBE recorded a total of 1.0014 trillion KRW in sales, surpassing 1 trillion KRW for the second consecutive year following last year's 1.0316 trillion KRW. This achievement came despite BTS’s group activities being absent due to members fulfilling their mandatory military service.

The record-breaking second-quarter performance was driven by direct participation sales (423.9 billion KRW), including album sales. HYBE explained, "Despite the overall decline in album sales across the K-pop market since the second half of last year, the return albums of major HYBE artists received positive responses, maintaining direct participation sales at levels similar to last year."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Among direct participation sales, album sales accounted for the largest portion, reaching 249.5 billion KRW in the second quarter, up 1.5% from the same period last year. In the first half, albums by HYBE Music Group artists accounted for 34% of total domestic album sales, with over 15 million copies sold. Not only albums but also the digital music segment showed strong performance. According to Spotify, eight out of the top ten most streamed K-pop songs worldwide, excluding South Korea, in the first half of the year were by HYBE Music Group artists.

The key performance indicator (KPI) for the fandom platform Weverse also showed an upward trend. The average monthly active users (MAU) on Weverse in the second quarter grew by 4% from the previous quarter to approximately 9.6 million. The increase in MAU was driven by artists’ comebacks and the growing number of artists joining Weverse. Following BTS member Jin’s military discharge and the BTS ‘2024 FESTA’ celebration, many fans revisited Weverse, pushing June’s MAU beyond 10 million. The total payment amount on Weverse during this quarter reached the highest level since the service’s launch.

The decline in operating profit was largely due to initial expenses related to various new businesses and the expansion of the rookie artist lineup. Specifically, these included initial marketing costs for the publishing game ‘Become a Star 2: Knights of Veda,’ which launched on April 2, and operating expenses from new business sectors such as HYBE’s Latin subsidiary. However, HYBE expects profitability to improve from the third quarter onward, driven by investments in ‘tech-based future growth businesses’ and domestic and international activities of its artists, aiming for sustainable growth.

In the second half of the year, HYBE artists will continue their active promotions. BTS’s Jin is scheduled to release a solo album during the latter half of the year, while SEVENTEEN will connect with fans worldwide through a new album and a world tour covering Korea, the United States, and Japan. ENHYPEN is preparing for its first-ever encore performances in two Japanese cities and a Jakarta concert as part of ‘The City’ tour. LE SSERAFIM plans to make a comeback on the 30th with their fourth mini-album ‘CRAZY.’ Additionally, NewJeans has announced a world tour for next year.

HYBE CEO Lee Jae-sang stated, “The second half of 2024 marks the beginning of a new era under new leadership, laying the foundation for mid- to long-term growth through nurturing music, platform, and tech-based future growth businesses.” He added, “HYBE will further strengthen its core competencies and design future IP (intellectual property) and fandom business models that consider the changing market environment.”