K-pop sensation BTS. Photo Credit: AJeong_JM / CC by 4.0
BTS agency Hybe Corporation (formerly Big Hit Entertainment) – which operates Big Hit Music – achieved a more than 79 percent year-over-year revenue increase during 2021’s second quarter, according to a newly released earnings report, as income approached a quarter of a billion dollars.
The Seoul-headquartered entertainment company revealed these and other telling performance stats in its Q2 2021 earnings breakdown, covering April, May, and June. Worth noting at the outset is that “South Korea’s economy expanded at the fastest annual pace in a decade in the second quarter,” according to Reuters.
Notwithstanding the gradual return of crowd-based entertainment and slow economic growth in other nations, however, Hybe managed to generate a staggering $243.81 million (₩278.61 billion), factoring based upon the present exchange rate.
In addition to marking an over 79 percent bump from the same period in 2020, the considerable earnings total signifies an approximately 56 percent improvement from 2021’s opening quarter, which delivered $156.06 million (₩178.33 billion) in income. Hybe’s Q2 2021 net profit, for its part, came in at $18.23 million (₩20.84 billion), a boost of nearly 10 percent year over year and 20.8 percent quarter over quarter.
Across April, May, and June, Hybe recorded double- or triple-digit growth in each segment except concerts and merchandise/licensing. “Artist Direct-involvement” revenue touched $112.55 million/₩128.62 billion (up 92.7 percent QoQ), and within this total, “albums” reached $93.61 million/₩107.01 billion (up 96.2 percent QoQ), while “Ads, performances and management” crossed $18.90 million/₩21.61 billion (up 76.9 percent QoQ).
Lastly, in terms of the segment-specific breakdown, “Artist-indirect involvement” neared $131.21 million/₩149.99 billion (up 34.4 percent QoQ), with the aforementioned “merchandise and licensing” having fallen to $43.83 million/₩50.10 billion (down 22.7 percent QoQ), against $7.53 million/₩8.60 billion for “Fan club, etc.” and $79.86 million/₩91.29 billion for “contents” (up 145.6 percent QoQ and 236.9 percent YoY).
Regarding cumulative holdings – Hybe in April acquired Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings in a more than $1 billion deal – current assets have quietly swelled from about $257.85 million (₩294.65 billion) at 2019’s end to roughly $1.23 billion (₩1.40 trillion) at June of 2021’s end, the document discloses. Non-current assets likewise hiked dramatically over the stretch, with the company’s total assets (current as well as non-current) having finished Q2 2021 at $3.00 billion (₩3.43 trillion).
On the other side of the coin, Hybe’s total liabilities have increased from about $165.80 million (₩189.47 billion) at 2019’s conclusion to $1.28 billion (₩1.46 trillion) as of June 30th.
Hybe stock (352820 on the Korea Exchange) was up about one percent from the previous day’s close at the time of publishing, for a per-share price of $261.13 (₩298,500). Last month, the company made clear that it would continue to take legal action against “perpetrators of malicious postings” about BTS.