April 25, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] YG Entertainment will post its worst-ever earnings since its IPO this year but will rebound dramatically, said DB Financial Investment on Aug. 22, raising the target price to 47,000 won (US$41.98) from 39,000 won.

As all Big Bang’s members apart from Seungri are serving their military duties, they will not longer contribute to the earnings this year. Seungri’s solo tour will be reflected in the fourth quarter. Further dragged down by 6.1 billion won in production loss, its operating profit this year will drop 45.8 percent from last year to 13.6 billion won. Next-generation artists, including IKON, Winner and Black Pink, however, will make up for the void. IKON is expanding the size of its Japan tour and will resume having concerts in Asia, attracting 200,000 more audience members next year, said Kwon Yun-ku.

Winner will bounce back from a short slump while Black Pink is enjoying a sharp upturn in popularity since their return in June. By 2020, Big Bang will be able to make a comeback and operating profit in 2020 will triple to 45.3 billion won. Considering the rising popularity and growing activity of its artists, its earnings will gain momentum until 2020. It will also debut a boy band and restart tackling China, which have not been reflected in the earnings outlook, he added.

By Hwang You-mee (glamazon@heraldcorp.com)