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Hallyu pushes up entertainment stocks |
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By Kim Da-ye
Until early this year, the market wasn’t favorable toward talent agencies.
An application for an initial public offering (IPO) in the KOSDAQ market by YG Entertainment with big shot idol groups including Big Bang and 2NE1 was rejected last November.
Wonder Girls producer Park Jin-young apparently figured his agency running at a deficit wouldn’t pass the Korea Exchange (KRX)’s screening, so he chose to become the major shareholder of another listed talent agency, J.Tune Entertainment, in January.
Investors’ distrust in talent agencies as a result of a long history of back-door listings and poor earnings seems to have faded as Korean enetertainers gain visible popularity not only in developing countries, but also in advanced nations such as Japan and France.
Shares of entertainment companies continue to rise against the downturn in the stock market. The value of an S.M. Entertainment share, for instance, more than doubled in three months ― from 19,450 won on June 21 to 40,950 won Wednesday ― while the benchmark KOSPI dropped more than 10 percent from 2,048.17 to 1854.28 points.
The bull market for talent agencies has boosted the wealth of entertainers-turned-businessmen. Lee Soo-man, the chairman of S.M. Entertainment and a former singer, is the most stock-rich celebrity, according to Chaebul.com, with his 24.43 percent stake valued at 165.70 billion won as of Tuesday when the price hit a record high.
The website gathering information about the affluent and conglomerates also ranked S.M.’s leading singer BoA with a 1.25 percent stake worth 4.1 billion won at sixth on the list and Ahn Chil-hyun, a former boy band member and current S.M. executive, with a 0.35 percent stake worth 1.15 billion won at eighth.
Chaebul.com ranked Yang Hyun-suk, the CEO of YG Entertainment and former member of Seo Taiji & Boys, as the second most stock-rich as the firm recently passed the KRX’s IPO screening on their second attempt.
The company is scheduled to go public in mid-October, and the website calculated Yang’s 47.73 percent stake at 83.88 billion won as its share closed at 47,000 won in the over-the-counter market.
While the sharp rise in S.M. Entertainment shares raises concerns of bubbles forming in the industry, experts said they climbed up based on earnings, not expectations.
Daewoo Securities Analyst Kim Chang-kwean said that the latest Girls’ Generation album released on June 1 sold more than 500,000 copies officially and is expected to sell 1 million by the end of the year. Kim said that it is priced at around 50,000 won ― more than triple the local price.
The talent agency also hosted the flagship SM Town Concert at the Tokyo Dome for three days between Sept. 2 and 4, amassing some 150,000 fans.
“The stock price is rising as the numbers have been confirmed,” Kim said.
Kim, however, warned of the trend of other entertainment firms’ shares ascending in conjunction and investors should know that only a few companies turn profits. He advised them to check in advance the firm’s earnings from this year and 2010.
Shin Jung-hyun, an analyst at Samsung Securities, added that investors should be aware of risks stemming from the industry’s unpredictability in that it is extremely difficult to forecast the success of a music album.
“In addition, while entertainers seem to earn good incomes abroad, Japan is the only profitable market,” Shin said.
S.M. Entertainment is planning to open three studios in Osan, Gyeonggi Province, to foster future Hallyu entertainers. According to a local business daily, the 185,025-square-meter land for the studios is located near plots of land belonging to family members of former President Chun Doo-whan.
The land in question has been mired in controversy surrounding Chun’s slush fund scandal and the land owners are expected to benefit from S.M.’s moving to develop the area, the newspaper said.
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한류열풍에 연예기획사 대박
올해 초까지 연예기획사들에 대한 시장의 시선은 곱지 않았다.
YG엔터테인먼트는 코스닥상장 예비심사에 탈락했고, JYP엔터테인먼트는 워낙 실적이 좋지 않아 직접 상장에 나서지 않고 제이튠엔터테인먼트의 대주주가 되는 길을 택했다.
하지만 한류스타들이 일본, 프랑스와 같은 선진국에서 눈에 띄게 인기를 끌면서 연예기획사들의 주가도 상승하고 있다.
SM엔터테인먼트의 24퍼센트 지분을 보유한 이수만회장의 경우 20일 주가가 최고가를 경신하자 주식재산만 1600억대에 달했다고 재벌닷컴은 전했다.
최근 두번째 상장 예비심사를 통과해 10월 중순 상장을 앞두고 있는 YG엔터테인먼트도 장외시장에서 주가가 4만7천원에 달하며 거의 절반에 달하는 지분을 가지고 있는 양현석 대표이사는 840억대 주식부자가 되었다.
하락장에서 꾸준한 오름세를 보이고 있는 엔터테인먼트주에 대해 버블이 끼어있는 것이 아닌가 하는 우려가 있는 반면, 시장관계자들은 SM의 주가폭등은 실적을 반영하는 것이라고 말했다.
일본에서 장당 5만원에 달하는 소녀시대의 앨범이 6월 1일 출시된 이후로 50만장 넘게 팔리고, 도쿄돔에서 열린 에스엠타운콘서트에는 3일간 무려 15만명의 관객을 모았을 것 추정되기 때문이다.
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kimdaye@koreatimes.co.kr |
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