HYBE has achieved its highest annual revenue since its founding, fueled by its global “multi home, multi genre” strategy and rapid growth in its concert business.
On February 12, HYBE announced that it recorded consolidated annual revenue of 2.6499 trillion KRW (about 1.99 billion USD) and an operating profit of 49.9 billion KRW (about 37.5 million) for 2025.
Revenue increased 18% year over year, marking a record high. The company’s growth was primarily driven by its global concert division. HYBE held a total of 279 global performances last year, generating 763.9 billion KRW (about 574.6 million USD) in revenue, a 69% increase from the previous year. Based on this performance, HYBE ranked fourth globally on Billboard’s ‘Top Promoters’ chart, entering the industry’s “Big 4.”
However, operating profit declined by approximately 73% compared to the previous year. The decrease reflects preemptive investments for mid to long-term growth and costs related to business restructuring. In particular, HYBE recognized impairment losses of about 200 billion KRW (about 150.4 million USD) as non-operating expenses while reorganizing its North American operations into a label-centered intellectual property business model. The company stated that these were accounting losses without actual cash outflow and emphasized that the restructuring is expected to improve profitability starting this year.
HYBE also reported notable progress in expanding its global business model. Global girl group KATSEYE, which debuted last year, surpassed 36 million monthly listeners on Spotify, demonstrating strong global traction. The company plans to further strengthen its market presence by developing region-specific intellectual property in markets such as Japan and Latin America.
This year, HYBE aims to achieve a significant performance boost with the full group return of BTS. The group will release their fifth full-length album ‘ARIRANG’ on March 20 and embark on their largest world tour to date, covering 82 shows across 34 cities worldwide.
HYBE also announced bold shareholder return policies to enhance shareholder value. Through a new shareholder return program to be implemented over the next three years, the company will introduce a “minimum dividend guarantee,” the first of its kind among K content companies. HYBE will guarantee a minimum dividend of 500 KRW (about 0.38 USD) per share and plans to expand shareholder returns by changing its dividend funding standard from net profit to free cash flow (FCF), which reflects actual cash generation.
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