Hybe Q2 OP falls on Ithaca M&A but album sales bolsters bottom line

[Source: Hybe Co.]

Hybe Co. reported an on-year dip in operating profit in the second quarter due to a one-off expense of acquiring Justin Beiber’s U.S. management Ithaca Holdings in April, but strong album and content sales from fresh record-setting singles from BTS buttressed the company’s bottom line.

In a regulatory filing on Friday, Hybe said its operating profit amounted to 28 billion won ($24.5 million) in the April-June period, off 6.23 percent against a year prior but up 23.01 percent from three months ago, beating the market consensus of 27.4 billion won.

The on-year drop was due to the company’s $950-million buyout of international label Ithaca Holdings behind Justin Beiber and Ariana Grande in April, the company explained.

Its net profit jumped 9.87 percent on year and 20.87 percent on quarter to 20.8 billion won as album and content sales more than doubled from a year ago despite absence of offline concerts. Sales reached 278.6 billion won, soaring 79.24 percent on year and 56.23 percent on quarter.

Shares of Hybe rose 3.85 percent to close at 310,000 won on Friday.

Album sales doubled on year to 107 billion won largely thanks to BTS' album release in Japan.

BTS online fan meetings brought in 91.3 billion won, boosting content sales by 237 percent from a year ago.

Merchandise and licensing sales slipped 12 percent on year to 50.1 billion won.

Brisk sales from BTS’ recent hit single “Butter” and merchandise including the marketing collaboration with McDonald’s will further strengthen third-quarter earnings, said an official from Hybe.

No sales were generated from offline concert tickets due to the ongoing pandemic.

The average revenue per paying user on Hybe’s online fan club community Weverse expanded more than 50 percent from three months ago with its monthly active users adding 9 percent on quarter to reach 5.3 million.

This month, K-pop girl group BLACKPINK joined Weverse under the partnership deal with YG Entertainment made in January, drawing in more than 1 million subscribers on the platform on the first day.

Hybe said it will continue to expand the artist line-up on the fan platform through partnership with other entertainment agencies going forward.

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