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Record Live Nation turnover for 6th year running

Shares in Live Nation Entertainment passed the $30 mark for the first time ahead of another record set of results for the world's biggest live entertainment group

By IQ on 24 Feb 2017

Michael Rapino, Live Nation Entertainment (LYV)

image © Rainer Hosch/Live Nation

Live Nation stocks soared to an all-time high yesterday following the announcement of record revenues for the sixth consecutive year.

President and chief executive Michael Rapino told investors that the live entertainment giant’s “three core divisions – concerts, ticketing and advertising – [also] each delivered their strongest AOI [adjusted operating income] results in the history of the company”, demonstrating the “tremendous power of the live event, with strong consumer demand and robust supply of new and established artists hitting the road, from clubs to stadiums”.

With the markets anticipating (and getting) a strong performance, Live Nation’s share price this week climbed above US$30 for the first time.

For the 12 months ended 31 December 2016, Live Nation Entertainment saw revenue rise 15% to $8.4 billion.

“Our success in 2016 reaffirms that Live Nation has created an unparallelled live platform”

Operating income was up 48% to $195 million, while AOI (which measures income before acquisition and stock expenses, depreciation and loss/gains incurred from the disposal of assets) climbed 12% to $646m. (Live Nation spent more than $100m on acquisitions in 2016.)

Concert attendance was also up 12%, to 71m, while Ticketmaster increased gross transaction value 16% to $28bn on a constant-currency basis, boosted by posting six of its ten best-ever months in 2016. Rapino said the integration of Ticketmaster into new partner sites, including Spotify and Facebook, led to the sale of 10m more tickets.

The GTV of its secondary ticketing platforms, meanwhile, grew 26% year on year, “driven by the premise that we should safely and transparently provide all options to fans at Ticketmaster, which has been embraced by ticket buyers”, said Rapino (pictured).

Rapino said Live Nation looks on track for another record year, with “the key leading indicators for each of our businesses are up year on year into February, pointing to continued strong growth in 2017”.

GTV from secondary ticketing grew 26% year on year

“We plan on holding more concerts for more fans in more countries than ever before,” he concluded. “We expect to sell more advertising, both onsite and online. And through continued product innovation and expanded distribution at Ticketmaster, we plan on selling more tickets and driving increased conversion.

“Our success in 2016 reaffirms that Live Nation has created an unparallelled live platform, bringing 550 million fans in 40 countries to those unrivalled two-hour events each year. The live business continues to have a strong growth opportunity, with artists touring as their primary source of income and using concerts as the best way to engage and connect with their fans.

“For Live Nation, we believe this sets us up well, as our scale and breadth continue to grow and we drive increased value with our business model of higher profits per show, more advertising and increased ticket sales. All of this creates tremendous runway for Live Nation to continue delivering the level of growth we have demonstrated over the last several years.”

 


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