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On November 5, 2024, HYBE Corporation released its "Q3 2024 Earnings Report" on its official website which reported a loss of 98.6% in its net profit. Additionally, the conglomerate also saw a 25.4% drop in its Q3 consolidated operating profit where the total decreased to 54.2 billion KRW (approx. $39.3 million) compared to 2023.
The company's sales revenue generated 527.8 billion KRW (approx. $382 million), which is down by 1.9% year-on-year (YoY). The net profit for Q3-2024 stood at $1 million (around 1.4 billion KRW). However, fan club revenue (Weverse subscription) saw an uptick of 31.8% year-on-year (YoY) and made over 204.9 billion KRW (approx. $148.6 million).
Meanwhile, out of the $382 million sales revenue, over 323 billion KRW (approx. $234.3 million) contributes to direct album sales and concert tickets. However, the revenue took a hit by 18.8% compared to Q3-2023 in its album and music sales. The company even witnessed a drop of 14.8% in concert ticket sales compared to the previous year.
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The company recently faced controversy when its internal "Industry Trends Report" was exposed at the National Assembly Audit on October 24, 2024, by South Korea’s Democratic Party. The 18,000-page document allegedly disparaged idol groups like Stray Kids, BLACKPINK, EXO, IVE, NCT, NMIXX, and aespa, indirectly damaging HYBE's reputation and affecting its Q3 2024 earnings.
Despite this, HYBE's new group KATSEYE found success with their debut EP, SIS, charting on the Billboard 200 and Top Current Album Sales, while their single Touch appeared on the Billboard Bubbling Hot 100, boosting HYBE's Q3 income.
HYBE faces severe public backlash due to its "Industry Trends Report"; CEO apologizes
Billboard reported that HYBE CEO, Lee Jae-sang, addressed the ongoing controversy on October 29, 2024, and apologized. The document, which was over 18,000 pages long, reportedly contained derogatory remarks about several K-pop stars from competing organizations including SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, and YG Entertainment.
CEO Lee Jae-sang asserted that the document was a compilation of public opinions on "industry trends and issues." The apology was posted on the company's official website where he said:
“As the CEO of HYBE, I would like to apologize regarding the Hive monitoring document. [...] The document was created in the process of collecting various responses and public opinions on industry trends and issues.”
He continued:
“It was shared with only some leaders for the purpose of understanding the market and artist fan opinions, but the content of the document was very inappropriate. I acknowledge all my mistakes on behalf of the company and feel responsible for the fact that it contained provocative and crude expressions toward K-pop artists...”
In other news, Ilgan Sports reported that HYBE fired the Weverse executive who compiled the controversial internal report on October 29, 2024.
