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Photo = HYBE |
[Alpha Biz= Reporter Kim Sangjin] HYBE has reported a decline in both revenue and operating profit for the third quarter, affected by ongoing internal disputes, including a prolonged conflict with Min Hee-jin, the former CEO of ADOR.
According to HYBE's announcement on the 5th, its consolidated operating profit for Q3 was approximately 54.2 billion KRW, marking a 25.4% year-over-year decrease. Revenue reached 527.8 billion KRW, down by 1.9% from the same period last year, while net profit dropped by 98.6% to 1.4 billion KRW.
The Q3 operating profit fell 2.6% below the market forecast of 55.7 billion KRW compiled by Yonhap Infomax.
Breaking down revenue by category, the "direct participation" segment—which includes albums, music, concerts, and advertising—fell by 18.8% to 323 billion KRW. The album and music (-18.8%) and concert (-14.8%) segments saw the most significant declines. However, "indirect participation" revenue, encompassing merchandise, licensing, content, and fan clubs, grew by 31.8% to 204.9 billion KRW, with content revenue up by 63.6%, driving growth in this segment.
Despite internal challenges, HYBE's new global girl group, CAT'S EYE, saw success with its debut album SIS, which spent two consecutive weeks on the Billboard 200.
HYBE's fan platform Weverse recorded 9.7 million monthly active users (MAU) in Q3, a 100,000 increase from the previous quarter, although this reflects a year-over-year decrease of about 900,000 users. In a recent overhaul, Weverse integrated the separately-run Weverse Shop and added new features such as enhanced content recommendations, personalized community settings, new community suggestions, and improved language translation to strengthen personalization.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim SangJin(letyou@alphabiz.co.kr)
