SM Entertainment’s Revenue Nears 1 Trillion Won Last Year… New Album Sales Of 20.1 Million Copies ‘The Largest Ever’

SM Entertainment (hereinafter referred to as SM, CEO Chang Cheol-hyuk) announced on the 7th that it achieved consolidated sales of 960 billion won and operating profit of 115.4 billion won in 2023. Both sales and operating profit increased by 13% and 27%, respectively, compared to the previous year. Net profit for the period was 1,158 billion won, an increase of 41.2% compared to the previous year.

SM achieved this performance thanks to strong sales of newly released albums and expansion of offline concert lineups for each artist. Last year, the number of albums and music releases was 64, a 12% increase from the previous year, and new album sales reached an all-time high of 20.1 million units, an increase of 67% from the previous year. There were 340 concerts held, a significant increase of 224% compared to the previous year.

Last year, NCT DREAM’s 3rd full-length album ‘ISTJ’ recorded a quadruple million seller (surpassed 4 million copies), and aespa’s 3rd mini album ‘MY WORLD’ recorded a double million seller (surpassed 2 million copies).
EXO, NCT, NCT 127, and RIIZE also achieved million-seller sales. Last year, NCT DREAM successfully held 41 performances in 26 regions around the world, including North America, South America, Europe, and Asia, and Espado also successfully held 31 performances in 21 regions around the world, including North America, Europe, and Asia. The world tour of our artists was actively held.
In the fourth quarter of last year, consolidated sales and operating profit were KRW 250 billion and KRW 10.9 billion, respectively, down 3.4% and 51.7% from the previous year. Sales from advertising and content-related affiliates decreased, and operating profit decreased due to the impact of the new inclusion of SM Brand Marketing. In the fourth quarter, sales on a separate basis were KRW 163.7 billion, up 7.2% from the previous year, and operating profit was KRW 20.6 billion, down 13.8% from the previous year.
This year, SM presents a diverse lineup of artists. Starting with Rise’s single ‘Love 119′, which was released last January and is sweeping the music charts, major artists’ singles (Korea, Japan) by new boy group NCT WISH debuting in February (Korea, Japan), and NCT DREAM’s mini album in March. Activities will continue. Based on this, SM plans to achieve 1.18 trillion won in consolidated sales and 160 billion won in operating profit this year.

SM also implements a shareholder return policy. SM held a board meeting on this day and announced that it decided to pay dividends worth about 28.1 billion won and cancel 241,379 shares of treasury stock (worth 14,953.67 million won) to improve shareholder value as a result of the 2023 fiscal year settlement. This is the first time the treasury stock has been canceled since the company was founded. Cash dividends are 1,200 won per share of common stock, and the dividend payout ratio is 34%.

SM CEO Jang Cheol-hyuk said, “We decided to pay dividends at the same level as the previous year in consideration of securing investment resources,” and added, “We will continue to increase corporate value by enhancing shareholder value through the cancellation of treasury stocks.”