South Korea-based leisure large SM Leisure, whose founder lately offered a 14.8% stake to rival HYBE, the corporate behind BTS, reported an 18.2% year-over-year leap in income in This fall 2022 to 256.4 billion South Korea Received  (USD $197.7 million).

The tempo of progress, nonetheless, slowed from the 65.4% YOY income surge within the earlier three-month interval, based on investor filings printed on Monday (February 20).

The slowdown got here as the corporate’s greatest income driver, its ‘Album/ Digital music’ section, solely reported a 2% YOY income progress in This fall to 76.8 billion gained after rising 14.5% within the third quarter.

SM — who represents Okay-Pop stars like SUPER JUNIOR, Ladies’ Era, SHINee, EXO, Purple Velvet, KANGTA, BoA, TVXQ!, NCT DREAM and aespa — attributed the sustained progress in album and digital music gross sales to strong album gross sales by NCT DREAM and Purple Velvet.

Elsewhere, SM’s income from artists’ appearances on TV, ads and occasions climbed 27.4% YOY to 25.1 billion gained, whereas MD/Licensing income surged 71.6% YOY to 39.8 billion gained (see beneath).

As reside occasions proceed to recuperate, SM’s income from live shows skyrocketed 25-fold, or by 2,400%, to 7.5 billion gained from 300 million gained a yr prior.

SM’s working revenue got here in at 25.2 billion gained, representing a 70.3% YOY improve, though its working margin narrowed to 9.8% in This fall from 12.5% in Q3.

Web revenue, nonetheless, nosedived 72.7% to 9 billion gained from 33.2 billion gained in This fall of 2021. On a seasonally adjusted quarter-over-quarter foundation, SM’s internet revenue additionally tumbled 69% from 29.2 billion gained in Q3.

SM Leisure attributed its lackluster internet revenue to the “reverse base impact of one-time income” and the absence of 19.7 billion gained from actual property gross sales in This fall of 2021. It additionally booked 7.5 billion gained of overseas currency-related loss within the newest interval.

The filings additionally supplied the monetary outcomes of the corporate’s subsidiaries together with reside leisure firm Dreammaker, which posted a 207% YOY leap in income to 26.7 billion gained following the restoration in live shows and fan meeting-related actions.

Dreammaker returned to a revenue of 1.4 billion gained in This fall from a internet lack of 700 million gained within the year-ago interval.

SM’s subsidiaries in Japan additionally logged a 22% improve in income in This fall.

The publication of SM’s earnings arrived inside a day of its CFO, Jang Cheol Hyuk, posting a video on YouTube, slamming HYBE’s current takeover try. HYBE spent 422.8 billion gained to accumulate a 14.8% stake in SM Leisure final week.

All Okay-Pop reported over every week in the past that HYBE is seeking to purchase an extra 25.2% stake in SM Leisure for 1.14 trillion gained, elevating its stake to 40%.

Throughout the identical week, HYBE’s US arm, HYBE America, acquired Atlanta rap powerhouse QC Media Holdings or High quality Management, house to acts resembling Lil Child, Migos, Lil Yachty and Metropolis Ladies. The acquisition was led by HYBE America CEO Scooter Braun.

Jang Cheol Hyuk argued that the takeover bid for SM Leisure would result in the monopolization of the Okay-Pop business by HYBE.

“If the 2 firms are built-in, the mixed entity would create a monopoly by taking 66% of the overall market income,” the CFO mentioned in a translated textual content of his video message.

The manager is anxious that SM “will probably be topic to such weak governance” if HYBE raises its possession within the firm, explaining some points that might come up if the father or mother firm turns into a enterprise competitor.

“With the optimum album launch time restricted to 100 instances a yr, HYBE is already saturated with artists from its labels. In consequence, SM artists can have no selection however to be placed on a decrease precedence,” Jang Cheol Hyuk cautioned.

The potential merger of HYBE and SM Leisure has already caught the eye of South Korea’s competitors regulator, the Korea Honest Commerce Fee (KFTC), lately, Reuters reported.

Im Kyeong-hwan, the KFTC’s head of worldwide mergers and acquisitions, informed Reuters final week: “Although there have been acquisition offers involving small and medium-sized leisure businesses, a deal on this scale is a primary for us.”

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