Its revenue in the fourth quarter last year almost doubled to 155 billion won from the same period last year but operating profit fell 35.3 percent to 3.7 billion won, widely missing market expectations, said analyst Yoo Seong-man.
SM Japan will struggle from the weak yen in the first quarter, while a major momentum is expected from concerts in Japan –- a total of 1.12 million audience in the first quarter and 2.1 million for the whole year – including those of TWXQ, Shinee and EXO, estimated the analyst.
Its subsidiary Dreammaker will be able to resume tackling the Chines market in the latter half as the governments is likely to ease regulations against Korean cultural contents, while another subsidiary SM C&C has taken over advertising sector from SK M&C and will post 37.7 billion won revenue and 3.4 billion won operating profit, said Yoo.
By Hwang You-mee (glamazon@heraldcorp.com)