SM Leisure reported a 15.4% YoY rise in second-quarter income to KRW 349.6 billion ($233 million).
That’s in keeping with the South Korea-based Ok-pop firm’s newest quarterly report, printed on Wednesday (August 5).
The expansion was pushed by SM‘s live performance and merchandising/licensing companies, together with income development throughout its subsidiaries.
Working revenue rose 11.0% YoY to KRW 52.9 billion ($35.3 million), which SM attributed to income development at each father or mother and subsidiary degree and to decrease working prices.
Internet revenue, nevertheless, fell 5.6% YoY to KRW 29.2 billion ($19.5 million).
SM mentioned the decline was “primarily on account of valuation losses on fairness investments, impairment losses on funding belongings, and better revenue tax bills.”
The corporate’s revenue tax expense jumped 52.8% YoY to KRW 12.8 billion, whilst its pre-tax revenue rose 6.9%.
At parent-company degree, income grew 9.2% YoY to KRW 240.6 billion ($160 million).
Live performance income climbed 23.6% YoY to KRW 41.6 billion ($27.7 million), which SM mentioned was “pushed by the enlargement of excursions by our legacy IPs.”
SUPER JUNIOR wrapped its Twentieth-anniversary SUPER SHOW 10 tour with three encore exhibits in Seoul, whereas EXO performed 19 live shows throughout 10 Asian cities on its sixth solo tour.
aespa, in the meantime, staged 5 exhibits throughout Jakarta and Japan on its SYNK: aeXIS LINE tour, TVXQ! carried out twice at Nissan Stadium in Japan, and NCT WISH held 5 dates on its first live performance tour.
Income from merchandising and licensing grew 22.0% YoY to KRW 77.9 billion ($51.9 million), which SM mentioned mirrored “ongoing IP-based monetization.”
The corporate tied that development to pop-up occasions and live performance merchandise, together with a nine-day NCT Tenth-anniversary pop-up in Seoul and an aespa pop-up run throughout seven cities.
Income from bodily albums and digital music fell 8.2% YoY to KRW 90.9 billion ($60.6 million), which SM attributed to decrease gross sales volumes from new releases.
New-album gross sales totaled 5.67 million copies within the quarter, down from 6.03 million a yr earlier.
aespa‘s second full-length album, LEMONADE, offered 1.06 million copies and debuted at No. 9 on the Billboard 200.
RIIZE‘s second mini-album, II, offered 1.4 million copies, which SM mentioned was the group’s fourth consecutive million-selling launch.
NCT WISH‘s first full-length album, Ode to Love, offered 1.92 million copies, whereas woman group Hearts2Hearts offered 620,000 copies of its second mini-album, Lemon Tang.
The consequence extends a run of concert- and merchandise-led development for SM, which posted file fourth-quarter income of KRW 319 billion ($219.4 million) in This fall 2025.
Second-quarter income was additionally up 25.3% from the KRW 279.1 billion the corporate generated within the first quarter of 2026.
Home rival HYBE, the corporate behind BTS, additionally posted a file quarter final month, with income greater than doubling YoY to KRW 1.45 trillion ($967 million) on the again of BTS’s ARIRANG world tour.
Combination income throughout SM‘s subsidiaries rose 25.5% YoY to KRW 177.7 billion ($118 million), with their mixed working revenue up 61.2% YoY to KRW 13.0 billion.
Live performance-production unit DREAM MAKER grew income 178.5% YoY to KRW 41.6 billion on extra home exhibits, whereas actor-management agency KEYEAST grew 263.3% to KRW 10.7 billion on a brand new TV collection.
Fan-platform subsidiary DearU, which SM consolidated onto its stability sheet in 2025, grew income 15.7% YoY to KRW 23.4 billion on a subscription value improve.
aespa, in the meantime, will carry out throughout Brazil, Chile, Peru, Mexico, the US and Canada within the second half of 2026 as a part of its 2026-27 world tour, SYNK: COMPLæXITY.
NCT 127 will open its fifth tour, NEO CITY: SEOUL – THE REDLINE, in Seoul on September 18, whereas YESUNG marks the Tenth anniversary of his solo debut with a seven-show Asia run within the fourth quarter.
Wanting forward, SM mentioned it will “proceed to stability the worldwide enlargement of our legacy artists with the secure development of our rookie artists, whereas additional strengthening our diversified IP portfolio to allow sustained worth creation throughout our artist roster.”Music Enterprise Worldwide
