Hive sales hit a new record of 2 trillion won... Seventeen, BTS, and New Genes sold 43.6 million albums.

Hive achieved sales of 2 trillion won for the first time in history. It is the first domestic entertainment company to achieve sales of 2 trillion won. Album sales by Hive artists, including groups BTS, Seventeen, Tomorrow by Together, and New Jeans, reached 43.6 million copies last year, doubling the previous year. However, despite strong performance, the 12-month forward price-to-earnings ratio (PER), which indicates the relative level of the stock price, is decreasing, showing that the 'stock price standard' is lowering.

Hive announced on the 26th that it recorded sales of 2.1781 trillion won and operating profit of 295.8 billion won last year. Sales increased by 22.6% and operating profit by 24.9% compared to the previous year. These are all record highs. Hive's operating profit forecast is almost in line with the average (consensus) estimate of securities firms, which is 304.1 billion won.

▶Album sales alone: 43.6 million copies

The solid lineup of artists, including BTS, Seventeen, Hive, and Le Seraphim, was reflected in the performance. According to Hive, Hive artists sold a total of 43.6 million albums last year (based on Circle Chart), a sales figure that doubled compared to the previous year. Of the 100 songs on the Circle chart, 38 were from Hive artists.

Seventeen achieved a milestone by selling 16 million albums. BTS, who had difficulty performing properly due to military service, also added strength by selling 8.7 million copies. Albums such as Tomorrow by Together (6.5 million copies), New Jeans (4.26 million copies), and Enhypen (3.88 million copies) also recorded significant sales.

Streaming performance grew by about 80% from the previous year to 300 billion won. This is a notable effect of the growth of Hive artists on major music sites such as Spotify. BTS's Jungkook, New Genes, and Le Seraphim have established themselves as music powerhouses. This was largely influenced by artists belonging to the country music label 'Big Machine Label Group' of 'Hive America', a subsidiary of Hive, and the hip-hop label 'QC Music', which contributed to streaming performance. Sales including album sales and music streaming reached 970 billion won last year.

Performances have also become a major source of income. Performance sales, which were about 15% of total sales at 258.2 billion won last year, rose slightly to 16.5%. Hive explained that this was due to the increase in the number of performing artists from 4 to 7 teams and the increase in the number of performances from 78 to 125.

The growth of the global super fan platform ‘Weverse’, which Hive has emphasized since its listing, is also evaluated as noteworthy. Weverse's average monthly users (MAU) remains over 10 million. We operate 122 artist communities. As the platform is in the expansion stage, the industry consensus is that it will take some more time to see the transition to a full-fledged surplus structure.

▶Dividends are still small, stock prices are falling

On this day, Hive also announced a cash dividend plan to improve shareholder value along with performance that meets the forecast. The dividend size is still insignificant at 700 won per share, or a total of 29.2 billion won. Based on the closing price at the end of last year, the dividend yield is only 0.3%. However, it is positive that a growing company has even come up with a dividend plan. This is an assessment that shows some of the company's will to increase shareholder value. This can be interpreted as an intention to establish itself as a ‘growth dividend stock’ in the future.

It remains to be seen whether Hive's good performance and measures to improve shareholder value will help Hive's stock price rebound. According to FnGuide, Hive's 12-month forward price-to-earnings ratio (PER) was 27.69 times, a significant drop from 36.7 times a year ago. Although it is still high compared to the industry average, the lowering standards are a factor preventing the stock price from continuing to rise. This is because PER usually reflects investors' expectations about future growth. It is not unrelated to this that the average target stock price for Hive has remained stagnant from 329,600 won six months ago to 322,600 won as of the 25th.

Reporter Choi Ji-ye wisdomart@tenasia.co.kr