South Korea-based entertainment giant SM Entertainment generated sales of 238.1 billion Korean Won ($179.4 million) in the third quarter of 2022 (three months to the end of September).
That’s according to investor filings published on Monday (November 14). That $179.4 million in revenue represents a 65.4% growth year-over-year.
SM’s list includes K-Pop stars like SUPER JUNIOR, Girls’ Generation, SHINee, EXO, Red Velvet, KANGTA, BoA, TVXQ!, NCT, and aespa.
SM’s operating profit for the third quarter was 29.8 billion Korean Won ($22.4 million), up 201.4 percent year-on-year, from 9.9 billion Korean Won (7.4 percent). million USD) in the third quarter of 2021.
The company’s net profit reached 29.2 billion won ($22.1 million) in the third quarter.
A deeper dive into the fill reveals that SM’s ‘Albums/Digital Music’ segment was the biggest revenue driver for the company in Q3, generating 72 billion Korean Won (54.3). million USD) in the quarter.
That revenue figure represents year-on-year growth of 14.5% from 66.8 billion Korean Won ($50.4 million) in the third quarter of 2021 (see below).
The company’s second largest source of revenue is its ‘MD/Licensing’ business unit, which generated 26.4 billion Korean Won ($1.9 million) in the third quarter of 2022, up 76.1% from with the same period last year.
Other highlights include SM’s revenue from artist appearances on TV, advertisements, and events, which generated 24.3 billion Korean Won ($18.3 million) in the third quarter, up 96.4% over the same period last year.
Sales from SM concerts increased by 1315.3% YoY, from KRW 800 million in Q3 2021 to KRW 10.9 billion ($8.2 million) in Q3 2022.
SM also analyzed the financial performance of various subsidiaries in its filing, including live entertainment company Dreammaker, whose revenue skyrocketed 569.6% YoY to 24.5 billion Won. South Korea ($18.4 million) in Q3.
That growth was driven by the reopening of concerts both domestically in Korea and internationally after a long break due to Covid.
SM’s announcement of the results follows news from earlier this month that Com2uS, a South Korean game publisher, has buying 4.2% shares of the company after buying 990,000 shares.
Korean economic daily newspaper reported that the value of the shares purchased amounted to 67 billion Korean Won ($47 million).
Reports in Korean-based media claim that Com2uS purchased those SM Entertainment shares ahead of the company’s general assembly meeting in March 2023 to support SM Entertainment founder Lee Soo -man, when minority shareholders were pushing him to step down as chief production officer.
Last month, SM Entertainment tie cutting with a private company wholly owned by Lee called Like Planning. Lee Soo-man is still SM Entertainment’s largest shareholder with 18.5% shares.
Founded in 1995, SM Entertainment has become one of the biggest K-Pop companies in Korea along with HYBE, the company behind BTS, and JYP Entertainment, the company behind activities like Stray Kids and TWICE. .Worldwide music business
