[Click eStock] "SM, Foreseeing the Reopening Renaissance Era"

[Asia Economy Reporter Ji Yeon-jin] SM Entertainment (hereinafter SM) is regarded as a stock that will lead the reopening renaissance era, with consecutive new records in album sales and a significant increase in investment for core IP production.

According to the financial investment industry on the 11th, Yuanta Securities emphasized that this year, the full-scale concert activity revenue will serve as a performance momentum, and with the rise in concert ATP (average ticket price) and the combined effect of online concerts, the entertainment renaissance of 2022 is anticipated.

In fact, SM set a new record as NCT Dream’s album pre-orders exceeded 2.03 million copies (normal pre-orders are around 1.5 million), and in the entertainment industry, SM was the first to launch the globally trending metaverse girl group aespa, continuing mega-hit records such as selling 500,000 mini-album copies domestically for the first time.

In particular, in line with the global reopening trend, artists are preparing for offline concerts. An SM official stated, “The group ‘NCT127’ will hold a dome tour with a total of five shows in three cities, starting at Vantelin Dome Nagoya on May 22, followed by Tokyo Dome on May 28-29, and Osaka Kyocera Dome on June 25-26. We plan to continue offline concerts in major cities worldwide, starting with the Japan dome tour.”

Along with strengthening core competencies in album and concert businesses, SM has also improved its structure through restructuring by reducing non-core businesses and selling assets. In the last quarter alone, asset sales amounted to 47 billion KRW, including the liquidation of the food service subsidiary SM F&B and withdrawal from the complex cultural space ‘COEX Artium.’

Lee Sung-soo, who joined SM in 2005 and served as the head of music production and overall producing, and Tak Young-joon, who joined in 2001 and served as the head of singer management, are leading the strengthening of core competencies in the main business.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.