BTS Joined the Military... HYBE Achieves Annual Sales of '2 Trillion Won', Industry First

Last Year 2.1781 Trillion KRW · Operating Profit 295.8 Billion KRW
Popular Acts Including BTS, Seventeen, NewJeans, LE SSERAFIM, and More

HYBE has become the first domestic entertainment agency to achieve annual sales of 2 trillion KRW. This remarkable growth in album and concert sectors is the result of the popularity of its artists, including the group BTS (Bangtan Sonyeondan), Seventeen, NewJeans, and LE SSERAFIM.

Bang Si-hyuk, Chairman of HYBE

On the 26th, HYBE announced that it recorded sales of 2.1781 trillion KRW and an operating profit of 295.8 billion KRW in 2023. Compared to the previous year, sales increased by 22.6% and operating profit by 24.9%, both reaching all-time highs. Net profit rose by 288.5% to 186.6 billion KRW.

HYBE's album and music sales last year amounted to 970 billion KRW, nearly reaching 1 trillion KRW. This includes significant contributions from BTS members who pursued solo activities and Seventeen, who set new records for K-pop artist album sales. Seventeen recorded cumulative album sales of 16 million copies, and despite BTS’s team activities being on hold due to members’ military enlistment, they sold 8.7 million albums domestically and internationally. Albums by Tomorrow X Together (6.5 million), NewJeans (4.26 million), and ENHYPEN (3.88 million) also achieved substantial sales. HYBE artists sold a total of 43.6 million albums last year (based on Circle Chart), doubling sales compared to the previous year.

Music streaming revenue grew by about 80% from the previous year, reaching nearly 300 billion KRW. This growth was notably influenced by the achievements of BTS’s Jungkook, NewJeans, and LE SSERAFIM, who appeared on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Thanks to the post-pandemic effect, concerts have also become a major source of income. Concert revenue increased by approximately 40%, from 258.2 billion KRW the previous year to 359.1 billion KRW last year. HYBE explained that this was due to the number of artists holding concerts increasing from 4 to 7 teams, and the total number of concerts rising from 78 to 125.

HYBE’s global superfan platform 'Weverse,' which has been emphasized since the company’s listing, continues to maintain over 10 million monthly active users (MAU). As of the end of last year, the number of artist communities reached 122, a 72% increase compared to the same period the previous year, and the number of Weverse Live sessions held by resident artists also increased from 900 to over 1,400.

This year, HYBE plans to debut multiple artists to build a diverse lineup. Additionally, existing HYBE artists are scheduled to actively release albums starting from the second quarter.

Along with the earnings announcement, HYBE also revealed a cash dividend plan of 700 KRW per share to enhance shareholder value, totaling approximately 29.2 billion KRW.

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