CTS Eventim shares hit record high post Q2 results
CTS Eventim’s share price has soared to an all-time high after the company raised its guidance for 2024 in light of its “excellent” Q2 financial results.
Shares in the German-headquartered giant jumped more than 7% to a new peak of €91.15 on the back of the figures, which included its recently acquired festival and international ticketing businesses from Vivendi for the first time. The deal, which concluded in June, includes See Tickets and a portfolio of 11 festivals including the UK’s Love Supreme and Kite, as well as Garorock in France.
Consolidated revenue for the second quarter was up 21.2% year-on-year to €793.6 million, almost doubling the 11.6% growth it achieved in Q1. Adjusted EBITDA grew at an even faster rate than revenue, rising 23.3% to €110m.
For the first six months of the year, consolidated revenue came to €1.202 billion (+17.7%) and adjusted EBITDA amounted to €202.2m (+28.9%).
“We will achieve further growth this year, both organically and through a successful acquisition”
“Our performance in terms of growth and earnings has been excellent in the second quarter of 2024,” says CEO Klaus-Peter Schulenberg. “As announced, we will achieve further growth this year, both organically and through a successful acquisition. Through See Tickets and its associated live entertainment activities, we have not only enhanced our market position in two of our focus markets – the UK and the US – but also expanded our team to include additional highly motivated and highly qualified units.
“Combined with the innovative technologies and solutions that we have acquired, this is a valuable asset for our company and opens up even more scope for international expansion going forward.”
While business in CTS’ home market of Germany remained strong, the company credits its international business activities with delivering “important growth impetus”.
Its reinforced ticketing segment was a key driver, growing by 28.5% to €175.2m. Adjusted EBITDA also increased by 35.1% to €73.4m in the same period. Three out of the five biggest-selling events took place in other European countries or South America, including concerts by Italian rap superstar Ultimo and South American reggae stars Natiruts.
“For 2024 as a whole, the executive board now expects adjusted EBITDA to grow significantly year on year”
For the first six months of 2024, ticketing revenue came to €358m (+25.8%), with adjusted EBITDA at €156.6m (+29.5%).
In CTS’ live entertainment division meanwhile, four of its top five events took place outside Germany, with Bruce Springsteen in Spain, and Ultimo, Pinguini Tattici Nucleari and Max Pezzali in Italy. Furthermore, the company says its festival season got off to a good start thanks to events such as Rock am Ring, Rock im Park, Hurricane, Southside and Nova Rock, with “very good advance ticket sales” for upcoming festivals suggesting the upward trend is set to continue,” it notes.
Live entertainment revenue advanced by 19.7% to €631.1m and adjusted EBITDA rose by 5% to €36.6m in the same period. H1 revenue reached €865.6m (+15.2%) and adjusted EBITDA came to €45.6 million (+26.9%), with the adjusted EBITDA margin improving to 5.3%, compared with 4.8% in the prior-year period.
“Plenty of summer shows, open air events and a variety of festivals are due to take place in the third quarter, which will provide a further boost for the live entertainment segment,” adds the company, which has put forward a bullish forecast for the rest of the year.
“In light of the strong first six months and the See Tickets entities being consolidated in full from the start of June, the executive board is optimistic about business performance in the second half of the year,” it concludes. “For 2024 as a whole, the executive board now expects adjusted EBITDA to grow significantly year on year.”
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Georgie Donnelly on AEG UK’s expanded ents remit
AEG Presents UK’s Georgie Donnelly has shared her ambitions for the company’s rebranded comedy and entertainment division in an interview with IQ.
Donnelly has overseen an intense period of development for the department since becoming AEG’s first head of comedy in the UK in 2022, leading its expansion into other forms of live entertainment.
Previously head of comedy & podcasts at Moment House, Donnelly also served stints as an agent at UTA and established the comedy department at promoter Kilimanjaro Live prior to joining AEG, which already boasted a significant existing comedy footprint in the US.
“The initial conversation was really exciting,” she recalls. “I’d always liked the people I’d worked with there and it’s a very respected company with big reach. So the combination of that powerful network and my passion and knowledge for comedy made the role very appealing.
“AEG already had a foot in comedy, so growing that felt like a natural next step. Obviously we’re a long way from being as established and impressive as AEG’s networks across music, but we’ll strive [to get there].”
Donnelly has worked with the likes of Jonathan Van Ness, Hasan Minhaj, Daniel Howell, Yvonne Orji, and Russell Peters, while her AEG remit also included the London debut of Just For Laughs festival at The O2 in March 2023.
“There were projects I knew I was going to be working on from the off, which were really exciting to me. I knew I’d be hitting the ground running”
“[AEG UK CEO] Steve Homer, in particular, had dipped his toe in comedy and that’s how we originally met – we co-promoted a Rob Lowe show when I was at Kili,” she notes. “[AEG] had done bits like Russell Peters and some podcasts, like My Dad Wrote A Porno, but they hadn’t formally broken into the comedy scene.
“There were projects I knew I was going to be working on from the off, which were really exciting to me. I knew I’d be hitting the ground running and building from there. One was the Just For Laughs London festival [at The O2], and Steve was already working on My Dad Wrote A Porno and The Guilty Feminist [podcasts], so I took those on as well. We produced every single element of the Graham Norton Variety Show at JFL last year and that was a career highlight.”
Notable successes so far have included a tour of politics podcast The Rest is Politics, a book launch by Stranger Things star Millie Bobbie Brown, a live Q&A with Ryan Reynolds at The O2 in London, the Alan Cumming Not Acting His Age one-man show and a live version of BBC radio institution Desert Island Discs, in addition to a performance by Indian comic Zakir Khan at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
“That was first time that an Indian comedian has headlined the Royal Albert Hall and done a full headline show and the first time someone’s done a full show in Hindi at that venue,” says Donnelly. “We’ve grown the number of shows, but also the variety of genres that we’re working on, even more than we anticipated. It’s something I’m quite proud of actually.
“We’ve grown AEG’s UK footprint in comedy primarily, but have also moved into other areas. Podcasts is a big part of that – about 30% of our output – but we’ve also done book launches, cabaret and musical theatre shows.”
She continues: “Digital creators is another area that we’re really growing. A lot of them have really engaged audiences who want to see their favourite YouTuber or TikToker in the flesh, so it’s good to be part of that scene. We’ve also had some family tours and a tour with Camp Binface, so even political candidates. It’s a long list, which shows the breadth and number of shows that we’re working on.”
“We never want to go in too hot if it is completely new”
Hosted by former Downing Street director of communications and strategy Alastair Campbell, and ex-cabinet minister Rory Stewart, smash-hit podcast The Rest is Politics embarks on its biggest tour to date this autumn – capped by a 12,00o-cap arena show in the round at London’s The O2.
“They’ve done London Palladium, the Royal Albert Hall and other theatres around the UK before, and it’s worked beautifully because even though they’re big theatres, you still get that intimacy that people want from a podcast,” says Donnelly. “We don’t want to lose that when we take it to The O2, which is why we decided to do it in the round – so that even people at the back won’t be that far away from the stage.”
Finding the right venue for unproven touring acts, regardless of other metrics, can be a challenge, suggests Donnelly.
“You do have to take a bit of a punt, but social media numbers help,” she says. “When it comes to digital creators, for example, you have their number of followers to go by, but also their engagement rates. But if they haven’t done a live tour, you don’t know if it’s going to work on stage – especially with audiences that are not used to seeing live shows because they’re used to seeing stuff on screens. So we sometimes get quite involved in the creative production, working with their teams to build a high quality show.”
When it comes to setting the correct price point, monitoring other markets can prove useful.
“Some of these shows may have played in America before and we can use that as a little bit of a gauge,” she says. “We never want to go in too hot if it is completely new, whether it’s the first time someone’s toured, or whether it’s just a completely new concept altogether. So the first time, we might be a bit conservative and respond to that depending on how it does.”
“We absolutely encourage people to submit ideas, because I can’t listen to every single podcast or be aware of every TikTok comedian”
Recent highlights have included shows by Canadian comedian Steph Tolev, while tours are coming up with the likes of comics Dylan Mulvaney, Aaron Chen, Maggie Winters and Randy Feltface, as well as reality TV stars Lucinda Light from Married at First Sight Australia and Captain Lee from Below Deck.
The division’s promoting team has tripled to three since Donnelly’s appointment, although she points out there is a “huge” amount of synergy across the various AEG UK offices.
“There is a lot of support and excitement for this department across all the other teams,” she discloses. “We absolutely encourage people to submit ideas, because I can’t listen to every single podcast or be aware of every TikTok comedian, so people are always suggesting acts for me to check out. There is crossover in terms of how it all works.”
And as for the bread and butter of the comedy circuit, Donnelly reports that it is “still going very strong” in the wake of the 2000/2010s boom in stand-up arena tours.
“There aren’t a huge number of comedians who can sell an arena, but there are enough to keep it busy,” she reflects. “But I personally think the sweet spot for comedy is that Hammersmith Apollo-level.”
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CTS Eventim’s annual revenue soared in 2021
CTS Eventim has reported a 60% increase in annual revenue during 2021.
The Munich-based pan-European promoter and ticketing company saw consolidated revenue rise by 58.8% to €407.8 million, compared to €256.8m in 2020.
According to CTS, the increase was driven mainly by a resurgence in ticket sales, with artists such as Ed Sheeran, Genesis and Udo Lindenberg among the bestsellers.
“The number of events on offer in our ticketing systems is increasing with each new day – a clear sign of growing confidence within the events industry, and we anticipate that festivals and large-open air events will begin to resume from the second quarter onwards, after an enforced break of two years,” says Klaus Peter Schulenberg, CEO of CTS Eventim.
The financial results also revealed a normalised EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) for 2021, rising to €208m (previous year: loss of €2.9m).
“The number of events on offer in our ticketing systems is increasing with each new day”
CTS chalks this up to cost savings, an improved operating business and extensive government aid of around €157m.
Consolidated revenue for the fourth quarter of 2021, meanwhile, was up to €227.8m, compared with €28.1m in the equivalent period of the previous year. Normalised EBITDA for the quarter amounted to €102.6m (previous year: €14.8m).
In the ticketing segment, revenue for 2021 as a whole improved by 77% to €224.1m (previous year: €126.6m). Normalised EBITDA stood at €177.1m, following a loss of €23.6m in 2020. In the fourth quarter of 2021, there was an increase in revenue to €113.5m (previous year: €19.5m), while normalised EBITDA rose to €85.8m (previous year: loss of €11.0m).
Annual revenue in the live entertainment segment advanced by 39.7% in 2021 to reach €191.1m (previous year: €136.8m). Normalised EBITDA for the segment came to €30.9m (previous year: €20.7m). In the last three months of the reporting year, revenue generated by live entertainment improved to €117.0m, compared with €9.5m in the final quarter of 2020. The segment’s normalised EBITDA for the fourth quarter totalled €16.8m (previous year: €25.8m).
“These financial results provide further evidence of the strength and financial stability of the group,” says Schulenberg. “2021 was also a year in which key strategic initiatives strengthened our international position.”
“These financial results provide further evidence of the strength and financial stability of the group”
In 2021, CTS launched Singapore-based Eventim Live Asia, entered the North American ticketing market and announced plans for a new 16,000-capacity arena in Milan, Italy.
In the same year, the live entertainment giant also acquired software and hardware developer Simply-X and regional ticketing providers Kölnticket and Bonnticket.
In addition, the tickets for Ed Sheeran’s European tour were the first to be sold by CTS Eventim exclusively through its proprietary digital ticket, Eventim.Pass.
Elsewhere, EMC Presents, a joint venture established with US promoter Michael Cohl in 2020, organised the group’s first tour in the US at the end of 2021 with Genesis as the headline act.
The company says it is “optimistic” about its prospects for 2022 after two pandemic-hit years, and believes it is “well-positioned” for a restart of the live entertainment sector.
At the time of writing, CTS Eventim’s share price is up 1.38% to €60.06.
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