Photo Credit: AJeong_JM / CC by 4.0
Notwithstanding BTS members’ much-publicized plans to pursue solo careers, Hybe (KRX: 352820) reported an 83.8% year-over-year revenue hike during 2022’s second quarter.
The Seoul-headquartered company revealed this and other performance specifics in its newly published Q2 2022 earnings report. According to the recap of Hybe’s showing during the three-month stretch, the BTS agency – which acquired Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings in April of 2021 – pulled down ₩512.22 billion ($390.99 million at the present exchange rate).
The figure marks an 83.8% YoY boost as well as a 79.7% quarter-over-quarter hike. Within the total, Hybe said that it had generated ₩325.88 billion/$249.26 million from “artist-direct involvement” (up 153.4% YoY), which includes ₩210.89 billion/$161.32 million from albums (up 97.1% YoY and 226.2% QoQ), ₩84.96 billion/$64.99 million from concerts (up 38.6% QoQ), and ₩30.03 billion/$22.97 million from ads, appearances, and management.
Hybe then disclosed that the remainder of the $391 million or so in total revenue had derived from artist-indirect sources, including ₩98.78 billion/$75.56 million from merch and licensing (up 97.2% YoY), ₩70.69 billion/$54.08 million from “contents” (down 22.6% YoY but up 45.6% QoQ), and ₩16.86 billion/$12.90 million (up 96% YoY) from the company’s fan-club offerings.
(WeVerse MAUs dipped 6% QoQ to six million, Hybe indicated, but average revenue per paying user managed to climb.)
Despite a 69.2% YoY jump in operating expenses (totaling ₩423.91 billion/$324.34 million in Q2 2022), Hybe also posted ₩93.04 billion/$71.19 million in net profit for the quarter, which signifies a 203.5% QoQ improvement as well as a 359.3% gain from the same three-month stretch in 2021.
Predictably, given the initially mentioned plans of BTS’ seven members to spearhead their own projects, Hybe dedicated a portion of its earnings analysis to highlighting the sales and successes of its other acts.
Le Sserafim achieved “record high” first-week sales for a debuting girl group with its May EP, the document states, while album sales for Tomorrow by Together and Enhyphen (which formed on Hybe’s I-Land reality show) have increased substantially with recent releases.
Moreover, Tomorrow by Together’s ongoing world tour sold out in the U.S., Hybe stated, while Seventeen’s 2022 gigs include six dome shows in Japan. Higher-ups likewise touted the commercial performance of NewJeans, a girl group that’s said to have racked up north of 440,000 pre-orders on its four-track debut EP, which dropped on Monday.
Meanwhile, the BTS Island: In the SEOM mobile game is said to have six million registered users – a noteworthy 95.7% of whom are located outside of South Korea. The app’s namesake group hasn’t stopped performing altogether, for Hybe earlier this year partnered with Disney to create several exclusive programs (one of which will star BTS’ V), and BTS has also signed on to try and bring the 2030 world’s fair to Busan.
Hybe stock (KRX: 352820) recovered slightly following the Q2 2022 report’s release, but, at ₩173,500 ($132.75) per share, remains well beneath the value that it boasted prior to the announcement of BTS’ split.