Big Hit, the highest performance even in the pandemic

Big Hit Entertainment, agency of BTS, achieved its all-time best performance last year despite the aftermath of coronavirus infection (Corona 19).

Big Hit announced on the 23rd that its operating profit last year was KRW 142.4 billion, up 44.2% from the previous year (98.7 billion won).

Its sales increased 35.6% year-on-year (587.2 billion won) to $796.3 billion (587.2 billion KRW). Its net profit increased 19 percent to 86.2 billion won.

Its operating profit in fourth quarter was 52.5 billion won and sales were 312.3 billion won, respectively, up 122.3 percent and 116.9 percent, respectively, from the same period last year. It is also the highest quarterly performance since its inception, Big Hit said.

Big Hit explained that sales of performances (offline) plunged due to Corona 19 last year, but strong album sales and even growth in the business sector drove sales.

Last year's sales in the performance sector were 3.4 billion won, down 98 percent from 191.1 billion won last year. This is because it was virtually impossible to hold offline performances, with most of the artists' tours, including BTS, canceled.

A Big Hit official explained in a performance conference call that day, "In 2020, the total number of scheduled world tours by some artists was more than 60 times, so the sales of performances that could have occurred from canceled performances would have exceeded KRW 200 billion."

Its album sales grew 196 percent year-on-year to 320.6 billion won.

Big Hit artists such as BTS, Seventeen, TXT, and ENHYPEN sold a total of 13.22 million albums (based on Gaon Chart) last year. Last year, 33% of them sold their albums in the Korean market.

Sales of official merchandise (MD) and licensing increased 53% from 169.9 billion won in 2019 to 259.1 billion won last year.

Sales of contents through online concerts increased 71% year-on-year to 133.5 billion won. Sales related to fan clubs also increased by 66 percent to 32.9 billion won.

A Big Hit official said, "As demand for performances has shifted to online content, online sales have grown 15 percentage points year-on-year."

Big Hit added that fan community platform Weverse also grew by recording about 25 million cumulative app downloads as of February this year.

Big Hit categorizes albums, performances, advertising, and performance fees as "direct participation" sales for artists, and businesses such as MD, licensing, content, and fan clubs as "indirect participation" sales.

A Big Hit official said, "We plan to pursue balanced growth in each sector in the future, with direct participation type accounting for 47 percent and indirect participation type accounting for 53 percent of total sales last year."

"We are pursuing both organic and non-organic growth," a Big Hit official said. "We will continue to look for opportunities to change through overseas labels, joint ventures, and mergers and acquisitions."

"We are expanding our presence in global markets such as Japan and the United States, and we believe that we have the potential to further grow in China and other countries in the future," he said.

Bias' Pics & Gifs▼▼▼▼▼▼