Artists of YG Entertainment [YG Entertainment]

In a first, talent agency YG Entertainment saw better business than top talent firm SM Entertainment during the first half of this year.

According to a report submitted to the Financial Supervisory Service on Monday, YG's sales for the January to June period of this year stood at over 44.74 billion won, close to the 44.77 billion won the firm made all of last year.

The figure is also higher than SM's sales of 40.59 billion won during the first six months of this year, making it the first time for YG to surpass SM which has long been the most profitable entertainment firm.

Additionally, YG posted an operating profit of about 9.64 billion won with the net profit standing at a little less than 7.30 billion during the same term, while SM recorded an operating profit of under 4.82 billion won and a net profit of slightly over 3.92 billion won.

YG's improved performance can be attributed to sales the agency saw from concerts, amounting to 12.52 billion won, such as Big Bang's "BIG SHOW" earlier this year and the "LOVE&HOPE" concert held in Japan.

YG's report will become binding if the FSS does not request for a revision on YG's report within the next 15 days and YG will be listed on Korea's KOSDAQ market after an intial public offering.

YG, which stands for Yang Goon, was founded in 1996 by Yang Hyun-suk, a former member of popular Korean group Seo Tai-ji & Boys.

Yang is credited with creating and managing the successful careers of many K-pop artists including 1TYM, Gummy, Jinusean, SE7EN, Big Bang and 2NE1.

The agency also manages several Korean actors including Kang Hye-jung and Ku Hye-sun of the "Boys Over Flowers" fame.

※ Any copying, republication or redistribution of 10Asia's content is expressly prohibited without prior consent of 10Asia. Copyright infringement is subject to criminal and civil penalties.

10 아시아 Jessica Kim jesskim@
<ⓒ즐거움의 공장 "10 아시아" (10.asiae.co.kr) 무단전재 배포금지>