SM Leisure-signed Aespa. Listing Credit: Everlasting Return
No matter a double-digit year-over-year (YoY) improvement on the album and digital music aspect, SM Leisure experienced a exiguous revenue decline at some point of 2023’s final quarter, in step with a newly launched earnings chronicle.
The knowledgeable home of K-pop acts such as Purple Velvet, Aespa, and Louis Vuitton-sponsored Riize correct currently posted its financials for the latter three months of 2023. Following chronicle-high album gross sales to boot to revenue of ₩266.3 billion (currently $200.41 million) for final year’s third quarter, SM has disclosed $188.05 million/₩250 billion in revenue for Q4.
That sum, to boot to marking a journey from Q3, represents a roughly 3.4% YoY decline, which the Dream Maker dad or mum chalked up to concert-dimension reductions to boot to “slack commerce stipulations” on the promoting and state material fronts.
As section of the $188.05 million total, the corporate, which is reportedly continuing to grapple with each and each organizational and regulatory scrutiny as a result of its connection to Kakao, attributed $123.14 million (₩163.7 billion) to core operations.
That refers namely to $68.15 million/₩90.6 billion generated from “album/digital music” (up 17.7% YoY, as mentioned, but down 20.1% quarterly) and $20.16 million/₩26.8 billion from TV and advert appearances (up 6.3% YoY and 24.6% quarterly), the resource reveals.
(Across all of 2023, SM launched 64 albums and digital initiatives, with unusual albums having moved a chronicle 20.1 million copies, CEO Jang Cheol Hyuk eminent at some point of the Q4 earnings name.)
One other $8.95 million/₩11.9 billion derived from concerts (up 59% YoY and down 51.3% quarterly), besides $25.35 million/₩33.7 billion within the “MD/licensing” class (down 18.5% YoY but up 16.8% quarterly) and $451,000/₩600 million from other sources, per the Hybe rival. All told, the section carried out rep profits of $7.07 million/₩9.4 billion, up 18.1% YoY but down 74.5% quarterly.
Nevertheless, SM identified comparatively lackluster outcomes for its “primary subsidiaries,” adore the aforementioned Dream Maker to boot to KeyEast and SM Culture & Contents. As an total, the units turned in $97.04 million/₩129 billion in revenue (down 5.4% YoY but up the equivalent percentage quarterly) and a rep loss of $40.54 million/₩fifty three.9 billion (an improvement from Q4 2022 but no longer Q3 2023’s $2.33 million/₩3.1 billion in rep profits).
Consequently, SM Leisure suffered an overall $14.82 million/₩19.7 billion rep loss at some point of Q4 2023, down from $63.34 million/₩84.2 billion in Q3 2023 rep profits and $1.43 million/₩1.9 billion in rep profits from the prior-year quarter, in step with the chronicle.
Taking a gape ahead to the remainder of 2024, SM also highlighted an over 35-album commence schedule – together with drawing shut initiatives from Thailand-born Ten (a mini-album that might per chance drop the following day), NCT Dream (a March mini-album), Purple Velvet (a Q2 mini-album), and Aespa (a Q2 album), to name a pair of.
Several of the equivalent acts bear likewise teed up high-profile concerts and excursions, together with NCT Dream’s world tour, while a British boy band, an unnamed lady community, and more are on the horizon for SM.
Within the abet of these efforts, the commerce is banking on 2024 revenue of $528.66 million/₩703 billion for its core operations, with a $376.05 million/₩500 billion tranche earmarked for persevered label buyouts, an ongoing publishing buildout, “world growth,” and “virtual IP.”
When the market closed at the moment time, SM Leisure stock (KRX: 041510) changed into rate an ideal $54.91/₩73,000 per piece, reflecting a exiguous lower from opening and an roughly 37% falloff from mid-February of 2023.