One of Korea’s top agencies, YG Entertainment, will finally be listed on the independent Korean stock market, KOSDAQ (the Korean counterpart to the American NASDAQ).
YG Entertainment’s application to enter KOSDAQ has been pending for a while now, and it was finally approved earlier this year. This new announcement states that their stocks will be listed on the market starting on November 23rd.
In light of such a big development, YG Entertainment held a press conference on November 8th and revealed their plans after entering KOSDAQ.
With top artists like Big Bang, 2NE1, Se7en, Gummy, Psy, Tablo, Yoo In Na, Jung Hye Young, and more under its label, YG Entertainment brought in approximately $40 million USD last year in sales, $9.2 million in operating profit, and $8.75 million in net profit. In the first half of 2011, they also recorded strong figures with $39.9 million in sales, $8.6 million in operating profit, and $6.4 million in net profit.
With YG Entertainment entering the stock exchange fray, all of the ‘Big 3′ companies (YG Entertainment, SM Entertainment, JYP Entertaiment) are now listed on KOSDAQ. (SM Entertainment was able to secure its entrance into KOSDAQ more than 10 years ago, while JYP Entertainment entered in February of this year.) Many are interested to see what kind of results the ‘Big 3′ will bring about not only in the music industry, but in the stock market as well.
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YG Entertainment also revealed to investors that there are currently 3 groups in the making out of the 32 trainees they currently house, confirming plans to continue the next generation of Big Bang and 2NE1.
It was revealed that a female group, made up trainees all under the age of 20, will be making their debut in the early half of next year. In the latter half, they will be followed up by a new boy group.