A visitor takes a photo at the main building of HYBE, the Korean entertainment giant behind BTS, in Seoul, Feb. 10, 2025. Yonhap
K-pop giant Hybe posted record annual revenue for 2025 on Thursday, driven by robust global tours and a diversified business strategy, although operating profit plunged nearly 73 percent from a year earlier due to restructuring costs and investments.
Revenue rose 17.5 percent from a year earlier to an all-time high of 2.65 trillion won ($1.84 billion), the company said in a regulatory filing. Operating profit, however, tumbled 72.9 percent to 49.9 billion won, while net loss widened to 256.7 billion won.
For the fourth quarter alone, operating profit dropped 92.9 percent to 4.6 billion won.
Hybe attributed the revenue growth to its "multi-home, multi-genre" strategy and a surge in live events. The company held 279 global performances last year, leading to a 69.4 percent jump in concert revenue. Merchandising and licensing revenue also rose 35.8 percent, while album and music sales declined 10.2 percent.
Conversely, the sharp decline in profitability was blamed on "one-off costs" stemming from investments in new artists and a restructuring of the North American business to transition toward a label-centered intellectual property (IP) business model.
Calling the costs an "inevitable measure for mid- to long-term growth," Hybe projected a financial rebound beginning this year. Its fan platform, Weverse, also achieved an annual turnaround to profitability last year.
The company expects significant earnings improvement in 2026 with its flagship group BTS set to release its fifth studio album, "Arirang," next month and launch the largest K-pop world tour in April.
Hybe also plans to debut new girl groups in South Korea and North America this year, and is preparing to launch a new boy group jointly with renowned American producer Ryan Tedder.
Source: Korea Times News
