Sm Entertainment has announced impressive results for the first quarter of 2025, publishing ₩ 231.4 billion of consolidated revenues, ₩ 32.6 billion of operational profits and ₩ 242.9 billion of net profits, according to its dissemination of May 7. Compared to the same period last year, the revenue increased by 5.2%, operating profit increased by 109.6%and net profit has risen to the stars of 1.852.4%, largely due to the acquisition of dear shares.
On a separate basis, registered SM ₩ 165.5 billion of revenue, ₩ 41.3 billion of operational profits and ₩ 32.2 billion of net profits, reflecting their respective increases by 21.5%, 105.2% and 94.1% on an annual basis.
While the sales of new albums have slightly decreased, the performance was enhanced by an increase in the revenue of digital music, the expansion of the global concert and the strong performance of MD/IP licenses.
A salient moment of the first quarter was the debut of New Girl Group Hearts2hearts, which exceeded 400,000 album sales in the first week, quickly building a global fan base. In the meantime, SMTR25, consisting of 25 internships, has aroused significant attention with the only content, risking the anticipation for their official debut.
The platform just acquired, dear, will be included in the consolidated profits starting from the second quarter, which should further strengthen performance. SM also cited plans for a deeper expansion in the Chinese market through Tencent music, together with larger IP partnerships and global branding efforts.
In the MD/IP division, the diversification of revenue was achieved through projects such as the pop-up character of the character of Riizzi and the collaboration Shine Key X Hello Kitty, showing global collaborations of global brands.
Looking to the future, SM has declared that he will focus on the aggressive promotion of the global artist and the downsizing of his secondary activity. In April, NCT Wish reached their first milestone of one million sales with their second mini-album, while Kai from Exo released his fourth mini-album, continuing his momentum as a world-class artist.
The next few months promise a crowded release program:
May: the first full-figure album of Riize, Red Velvet Irene & Seulgi’s Mini-Album and Shinee’s Single.
Later: the second solo album of NCT Doyung, a new single by Hearts2hearts and the Aespa single.
Q3: album of the 20th anniversary of Super Junior, a new full-figure album of NCT Dream and Aespa Mini-Album.
SM will also launch more tours, including the Tour of the Kai solo concert, the first tour of the Riuri concert, the tour of the Irene & Seulgi concerts and the fourth tour of the NCT Dream concert, which have released fans in the key cities all over the world.
Co-Cei Jang Cheol-Hyuk commented: “The rapid institution of new IPs and our monetization strategy has fueled growth. We will continue to pursue quality development based on our SM 3.0 strategy, focusing on the diversification of the Pi and the acceleration of our global expansion”.
