[Click eStock] "FNC Entertainment Signals Profit Turnaround... P1Harmony Leads, N.Flying Pushes Forward"

FNC Entertainment is initiating a turnaround in its performance, driven by the global expansion of its main artists. With the company consolidating non-core businesses and focusing on music, and with the growth of next-generation intellectual property (IP) such as P1Harmony and N.Flying, it is expected to return to operating profit this year.

According to independent research firm Aris on August 25, FNC Entertainment’s consolidated sales for this year are projected to reach 121.5 billion won, up by about 19% compared to last year. Operating profit is expected to turn positive at 2.7 billion won. FNC Entertainment recorded an operating loss of 4.2 billion won in 2024 and 600 million won last year.

The performance improvement was already evident in the first half of the year. In the first half of this year, sales reached 49.3 billion won, reflecting an increase of roughly 30% year-on-year. The expansion of P1Harmony’s activities both domestically and overseas, the growth of FTIsland’s concerts, and CNBLUE’s world tour have helped drive growth in the music business.

Jaemo Lee, a researcher at Aris, analyzed, "The expanded activities of the main artists have directly translated into increased sales, positioning the music business as the centerpiece of top-line growth in the first half of the year."

In the second half of the year, the activities of growth IPs will be further expanded, with the rise of P1Harmony particularly standing out. P1Harmony’s 9th mini album, 'UNIQUE,' recorded 500,000 copies sold in the first week and reached 4th place on the Billboard 200. The group’s Weverse fandom grew from 1.65 million in 2024 to 2.4 million as of April this year, and the scale of their performances increased from 20,000 seats in 2022 to approximately 130,000 seats last year.

In the second half, global activities are set to continue with the release of a new album and performances at Tokyo Arena in Japan, followed by stops in Taipei, Macau, and Bangkok. N.Flying is also expanding its fandom, broadening its concert territories to North America and Europe, and preparing for a new album release in September as well as nationwide and Asian tours.

FNC Entertainment has also restructured its business portfolio. Since 2022, the company has streamlined non-entertainment and unprofitable businesses, reduced subsidiaries, and withdrawn from non-core businesses to focus resources on core operations such as music, management, and drama production. As a result, the music business is expected to account for 75.44% of its consolidated sales this year.

The key issue is whether the expanded fandom will lead to improved profitability. Jaemo Lee, a researcher at Aris, commented, "Given the rapid growth of the fan base and performance scale for P1Harmony and N.Flying, the main checkpoint will be to see how increased activity translates not only into sales but also improved profitability. With album releases and a concentration of global performances in the second half, this will be a crucial time to assess the contribution of growth IPs to overall results."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.