HYBE achieved sales exceeding 500 billion won in the first quarter, which is traditionally considered a slow season for the entertainment industry. This is the highest first-quarter performance since its founding.
HYBE reported sales of 500.6 billion won for the first quarter of this year on the 29th. This represents a 39% increase compared to the previous year. Operating profit rose 50% to 21.6 billion won.
Typically, the first quarter is a time when artists, having wrapped up year-end activities, recharge and prepare new albums and projects, resulting in fewer new releases and content. However, sales significantly increased in the first quarter of this year as HYBE's artists, including BTS member J-Hope, SEVENTEEN, TOMORROW X TOGETHER, ENHYPEN, and BOYNEXTDOOR, conducted world tours and solo tours.
Direct participation revenue, including album sales and concerts, accounted for 322.5 billion won, or about 64% of total revenue. While album sales showed a slight decline compared to the previous year, the concert revenue soared to 155.2 billion won, more than tripling during the same period as the artists' world tours received a strong response.
Indirect participation revenue, including merchandise (MD), licensing, content, and fan clubs, amounted to 178.1 billion won, constituting about 36% of total sales. The MD and licensing segment, which held the largest share of indirect participation revenue, increased by 75% from 60.7 billion won in the same quarter of the previous year to approximately 106.4 billion won this quarter.
Character merchandise based on HYBE Music Group artists' intellectual property (IP), including SEVENTEEN's 'MINITEEN', TOMORROW X TOGETHER's 'BbuLBaTu', LE SSERAFIM's 'PIMZ CLUB', and BOYNEXTDOOR's 'PPOPO NEK DO', also contributed to sales.
HYBE has a positive outlook for its second-quarter performance. Most of the HYBE Music Group artists will resume their activities alongside album releases and will start their tours in earnest.
BTS's Jin will return with his second mini-album 'Echo' on May 16 and meet global fans through his first solo fan concert tour starting in June. SEVENTEEN will make a comeback with a regular album for the first time in three years on their 10th anniversary, May 26. The Japanese rookie group AoiEn will debut on June 11, and Big Hit Music will introduce a new boy group in the third quarter.