Big Hit Entertainment Co. delivered record earnings in 2020 in its first annual report upon going public last year as its main star BTS dominated global music charts and album sales despite lack of offline concerts.

Big Hit Entertainment said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday that it registered a quarterly record-high operating income of 52.5 billion won ($47.35 million) on a consolidated basis in the fourth quarter ended December 2020, up 30.8 percent on quarter and 122.3 percent on year. Its fourth-quarter revenue reached also a quarterly high of 312.3 billion won, up 64.4 percent on quarter and 116.9 percent on year.

For the full 2020, the agency raised 142.4 billion won ($128.42 million) in consolidated operating income, up 44.2 percent from 2019. Net profit jumped 19 percent on year to 86.2 billion won over sales of 796.3 billion won, up 35.6 percent.

The company which was a retail IPO sensation when it went public in October 2020 indulged shareholders who put up with downfall in the stock with best-ever performance.

Shares of Big Hit Entertainment closed Wednesday 7.66 percent lower at 211,000 won. The stock was one of the priciest among newcomers, debuting at 260,000 won on Oct. 15 at the doubled value of its IPO of 135,000 won. It fell to as low as 140,000 won a month later, but rebounded sharply this year on heavy buying by pension funds. It received fresh traction for upward momentum after it struck partnership with Universal Music Group to discover and groom a global boy group last week.

Big Hit Entertainment attributed its strong earnings that exceeded the pre-pandemic levels to its artists’ upbeat digital and physical album sales, as well as paid online concerts in place of canceled live performances, spurred by the continuously soaring popularity of its flagship K-pop group.

Sales of offline concert tickets plunged to 3.4 billion won last year from 191.1 billion won in 2019 but album sales soared 196 percent to 320.6 billion won over the same period.

BTS and other artists from Big Hit sold 13.22 million copies, according to South Korea’s leading chart Gaon Chart. Content sales hit 133.5 billion won, growing 71 percent from the previous year, most of which garnered from paid online concerts. BTS held online concerts in June and October last year, which set world record for the most viewed concert live streams, drawing 756,000 and 993,000 viewers, respectively.

It will seek to foster the company’s growth through various joint projects with its business partners like its latest project with Universal Music as well as mergers and acquisitions. Its fan community platform Weverse recently assumed Naver V Live Streaming service.

By Kang Young-woon and Lee Soo-min

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]