YG Entertainment saw a surprising increase in its performance of the 4th quarter last year, mainly led by the marketing of the Babymonster women’s group. The company also expects strong results this year with Blackpink’s Full Group World Tour.
For the fourth quarter, YG Entertainment recorded preliminary revenues of 104.1 billion KRW (about 81.7 million USD), an operational profit of 990 million KRW (about 758,000 USD) and a net profit of 20.88 billion in KRW (about 16.1 million dollars). The revenues increased by 24.6% compared to the previous quarter and both operating profits and net ones have passed to black.
The strong performance of YG Entertainment’s Q4 has been led by the activities of artists such as Babymonster and Treasure. The Lee Hwa-Jung analyst of NH Investment & Securities stressed that the Babymonster album, the success of global music and sales of pop-up stores have exceeded revenue expectations. Choi Min-Ha by Samsung Securities noted that the first complete album of Babymonster sold 840,000 copies, contributing significantly to the results, with Treasure that also increases performance with a digital single.
Looking to the future, YG Entertainment will benefit from the world tours of Blackpink, from the first world tour of Babymonster and from the activities in progress of Treasure. Choi Min-Ha said that the first world tour of Babymonster should be unusually large, and Treasure has a special album in March, a complete album in the third quarter, a concert by North American fans and a world tour during the year.
The company is particularly optimistic on the next Blackpink world tour. Blackpink has announced a tour starting from July in Korea, with 13 shows in 10 cities. The Choi analyst provides that the size of the tour increase, guiding concerts and sales of goods.
The Lee analyst also provides that the Blackpink tour will include about 60 stadium shows, including Encores. While the terms of renewal of the contract could slightly affect the revenue share, the range of the tour should significantly increase YG’s financial performance.
