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CTS Eventim: ‘Strong start to 2022 is cause for optimism’

CTS Eventim says its strong start to 2022 is cause for optimism that live entertainment will make a “robust comeback” this year.

“Concert and festival venues are finally coming back to life,” exclaims CEO of CTS Eventim, Klaus-Peter Schulenberg, as the company’s Q1 financial results are revealed.

The lifting of coronavirus-related restrictions in the company’s core markets meant that revenue in the ticketing and live entertainment segments increased substantially in the first quarter of 2022 compared with the same period of last year.

The results show that consolidated revenue improved to €139.2 million in the first fiscal quarter of 2022 (previous year: €19.6m). While normalised EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) came to €23.7m (previous year: €-19.6m).

In the ticketing segment, revenue rose to €76.5m in the first three months of 2022 (previous year: €13.5m). Normalised EBITDA was back in the black at €27.2m (previous year: €-13.4m).

“Ticket sales in April – and so far in May too – have been well above the level seen in the same period of 2019… a record year”

Revenue in the live entertainment segment improved year on year to reach €65.1m in the first quarter of 2022 (previous year: €6.8m). Normalised EBITDA amounted to €-3.5m (previous year: €-6.2m).

“We are delighted that ticket sales in April – and so far in May too – have been well above the level seen in the same period of 2019, which had been a record year,” continues Schulenberg.

“This underpins the hope that the live entertainment sector will really bounce back after an enforced two-year break due to coronavirus. The live entertainment business ramped up again in our European markets and overseas much sooner than in Germany, where coronavirus restrictions were lifted relatively late.”

The company says it received “positive news” at the beginning of this year when an arbitration tribunal decided that autoTicket – a joint venture between CTS and Kapsch TrafficCom – is entitled to claim for compensation and reimbursement of expenses from the Federal Republic of Germany.

Also in 2022, CTS announced a partnership with France Billet to provide ticketing software and related services for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris. The company expects the contribution to revenue to be in the double-digit millions.

 


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Endeavor Q1 revenue boosted by demand for events

WME parent company Endeavor has reported significant growth in the first quarter of 2022, driven by the resumption of concert touring and demand for live events.

Endeavor, which also owns sports agency IMG and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), among other properties, generated revenue of US$1.474 billion for the first fiscal quarter of 2022.

Net revenue came to $517.7m, while EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) totalled $314.4m.

The agency’s representation business (comprising WME, sports agency IMG and Endeavor Content) generated revenue of $357.3m for the quarter, up $108.4m or 44% compared to the first quarter of 2021.

The segment’s adjusted EBITDA was $101.7m for the quarter, up $40.2m or 65%, year on year.

According to the company, the growth was primarily driven by increased brand spending, as well as higher commissions resulting from continued strong demand for Endeavor’s talent, and the recovery of live entertainment, primarily music and comedy touring.

WME artists include Drake, Justin Timberlake, Adele, Bruno Mars, Pearl Jam, Kendrick Lamar, the Killers, Bjork, Frank Ocean, Foo Fighters, St Vincent, Shakira and more.

“Our growth in the first quarter was driven by our ability to respond to the high demand for premium content and live events”

Elsewhere, the Events, Experiences & Rights segment revenue was $825.8m for the quarter, up $286.2m or 53% compared to the first quarter of 2021.

Increases were primarily driven by the return of more full-capacity live events in the quarter compared to the first quarter of 2021, including Super Bowl LVI, the Miami Open, the NCAA Final Four and Frieze LA, as well as $38m in revenue from the acquisition of NCSA, which closed in Q2 2021.

The segment’s adjusted EBITDA was $132.5m for the quarter, up $93.4m or 239%, year on year.

Owned Sports Properties segment revenue was $296.7m for the quarter, up $13.2m or 5% compared to the first quarter of 2021 – primarily driven by greater sponsorship, licensing, commercial PPV and event-related revenue for UFC among other factors. The segment’s adjusted EBITDA was $148.7m for the quarter, up $3.2m or 2% year on year.

“Our growth in the first quarter was driven by our ability to respond to the high demand for premium content and live events,” said Ariel Emanuel, CEO, Endeavor. “We feel great about where we sit relative to the secular tailwinds across all of our businesses, and we’ve raised our guidance for the fourth quarter in a row to reflect our positive outlook for the balance of the year.”

For 2022, Endeavor is projecting revenue between $5.235bn and $5.475bn, as well as adjusted EBITDA between $1.1bn and $1.15bn.

Last year, the company generated $5.1bn in revenue but posted a net loss of $467.5m.

 


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DEAG sales soar, return to pre-pandemic levels

Deutsche Entertainment (DEAG) has reported a return to form in the first quarter of 2022, with sales returning to pre-pandemic levels.

The Berlin-based live entertainment group generated sales of around €31 million in the first three months of 2022 – up 2,700% from Q1 2021 when operating sales were €1.1m and reported sales were €4m.

Sales in Q1 of this year were even higher than the first quarter of 2018 (€27m) and the first quarter of 2019 (€25.5m).

According to the promoter and ticketing agency, the increase is largely down to a number of events in all of the company’s national markets (Germany, the UK, Switzerland, Ireland and Denmark).

Notable events for DEAG in Q1 2022 included concerts by Simply Red and Texas in the UK and Bonnie Tyler in Switzerland, the international literature festival lit.COLOGNE, electronic festival “Mayday – 30 Years” in Germany, and Dita von Teese’s burlesque tour in the UK.

In addition, EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) in Q1 came to around €2.8m, up from €2.4m in the same period of last year.

“Finally! we can shift into a forward gear operationally once again and do what we burn for: to host exciting events”

For the first time in DEAG’s history, the ticketing segment was profitable in the traditionally weaker first quarter – a growth which is expected to continue throughout the year.

Overall, sales for the financial year of 2022 are expected to multiply year-on-year and significantly exceed pre-corona levels, says the company.

“Finally! Following the paralysis of the entire live entertainment industry caused by corona, we can shift into a forward gear operationally once again and do what we burn for: to host exciting events,” comments Prof. Peter L.H. Schwenkow, CEO of DEAG.

“The audience reactions and our first quarter figures show that we are extremely successful with this. We increased our operating sales by a factor of twenty-eight, a result that we owe entirely to our operational strength.

“Our EBITDA is also clearly positive. The Covid-19-related conditions have since eased further, so we will be burning off event fireworks in the coming quarters. For example, we will stage concerts with stars such as KISS, Ed Sheeran in the UK, Iron Maiden, Zucchero, Die Toten Hosen, Anna Netrebko and Die Ärzte, as well as open-air festivals such as Nature One, Belladrum and Sion sous les étoiles. We are excellently positioned for the restart of the industry. In 2022 as a whole, we will massively increase our sales and even significantly exceed the pre-corona level.”

DEAG says it has already sold more than 6.3 million tickets for events in its core markets for the coming quarters. On the basis of ticket sales and the “bulging event pipeline,” the company expects its upward trajectory to carry on in 2023.

 


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Live Nation hails biggest Q1 in company history

Live Nation boss Michael Rapino says the company’s Q1 business “greatly surpassed” expectations after delivering its best Q1 performance ever.

The promoter recorded operating income of $27 million and AOI of $209m for the first three months of the year, while its Ticketmaster division posted another record quarter, with big growth in operating revenue, AOI and transacted GTV compared with the last pre-pandemic year of 2019.

Sponsorship operating income and AOI were also up 83% and 75%, respectively, on three years ago.

“Artists are back on the road and fan demand has never been stronger”

“Momentum has picked up for all of our businesses over the course of the first quarter,” Rapino told investors during yesterday’s earnings call. “And as a result, we have delivered financial performance that greatly surpassed our previous expectations with AOI of $209 million.

“Artists are back on the road and fan demand has never been stronger. The reflection of live events remain a clear priority for consumers as our social lives restart.”

Ticketmaster reported sales of 70 million tickets for its 2022 concerts – up 36% compared to the same point in 2019, and Rapino said all leading indicators pointed towards double-digit growth and fan attendance for LN over the course of the year.

“Ticket sales were at record levels in Q1 with momentum building over February and March,” he said. “We sold almost 20 million more tickets to our concerts this year in this point in time in 2019, with large number of tours still to go on sale and concert fans are showing no sign of slowing down.

“Ticket buying serves as a leading indicator to our overall business. Ticketmaster’s strong first quarter performance drove the company’s overall profitability and shows how well our concert and sponsorship businesses are positioned to deliver record results this year.

“Despite some markets taking longer to reopen, the quarter was our second highest ever we transacted GTV, excluding refunds, trailing only Q4 2021 with March being our highest transacted GTV month ever.”

He added: “Our sponsorship activity fully returned in Q1, delivering financial results that well exceeded 2019. We’re seeing growth across a number of dimensions, expansion of existing relationships, new categories expanding our breadth to partners and new ad units being created both onsite and online.”

“We continue to build our flywheel with over 70 million tickets now sold for shows in 2022”

Rapino also referenced the firm’s partnerships with brands such as Verizon and Snap.

“Much of our focus with brand partners is how we collectively elevate the fan experience. We’ve had great success with this in recent years. And so far this year through our partnership with Verizon, we started powering our Venues with cutting edge 5G connectivity and are launching initiative with Snap to give artists augmented reality capabilities at shows and festivals.

“But more importantly, we continue to build our flywheel with over 70 million tickets now sold for shows in 2022, up to 36 million, compared to 2019 and committed show count is up 44% through the end of April, relative to 19%, setting us up for continued ticket sales over the year.

“We have over 60 tours already under discussion for 2023, our earliest indicators of next year in great positioning for ongoing growth.”

I continue to expect this just to be the start of our run”

Rapino said the no-show rate at gigs – a common complaint the first few months after the restart – had returned to normal levels.

“We’re seeing no challenges at all,” he said. “People are showing up to the shows. We are showing similar to 2018, ’19, your regular low digit no-show rate of people that don’t make it to the show. But back to normal, people come and drum to those shows no issues at all in terms of showing up.”

He added that while the US and UK had driven much of the company’s activity over the past year, the rest of the world was now rapidly opening up.

“Both Latin America and Western Europe are expected to have record attendance for our concerts this year,” he concluded. “I continue to expect this just to be the start of our run, the global addressable markets for concerts, ticketing and sponsorship, all provide a long runway for continued growth.”

 


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