CTS Eventim reported revenues in excess of €2 billion for the first nine months of 2024, but its stock took a tumble amid mixed Q3 results.

The German-headquartered live entertainment and ticketing firm generated €2.027bn (up 16% year-on-year) and adjusted EBITDA of €322.7m (+12.1%) – both record highs for the first three quarters of the year.

In Q3, group takings increased 13.1% y-o-y to €825m, with its ticketing segment up 18.3% to €206.6m and live entertainment rising 11.4% to €628.4m. Top-selling shows included Ed Sheeran, Iron Maiden, Gilberto Gil and Vasco Rossi.

However, adjusted EBITDA for the group was down 8% to €120.6m in the quarter, compared with the same period in 2023. Ticketing grew 2.1% to €84.1m by the same measure, but live entertainment fell 25% to €35.6m.

“While CTS reported good top-line growth, profitability in the third quarter was disappointing, particularly in live entertainment,” analyst Oliver Wojahn, of mwb research told Reuters.

For the full nine-month period, its live entertainment division advanced 13.6% to €1.494bn. But adjusted EBITDA dipped 3% to €82.1m. CTS cited factors including “persistently high cost pressures for promoters”, as well as “integration expenses” related to its See Tickets deal, for the decline. The ticketing segment climbed by 22.9% year-on-year to €564.6m “primarily attributable to a diverse content portfolio”, while adjusted EBITDA rose by 18.4% to €240.7m.

“CTS Eventim is continuing to deliver stable growth in an increasingly volatile political and economic environment”

The pan-European giant saw its share price – which topped €100 for the first time last month – slide as much as 14% today (21 November) after opening at €85, before rallying to €82.35 (8% down) at press time.

Nevertheless, the stock is up 32% for the year to-date, and the company says it remains on a “stable growth trajectory” despite “increasingly challenging” economic conditions, describing upward pressure on costs as “still stubbornly high”.

“CTS Eventim is continuing to deliver stable growth in an increasingly volatile political and economic environment,” says CTS CEO Klaus-Peter Schulenberg. “The strategy of boosting rapid expansion and making the portfolio more financially resilient has proved to be key to our Group’s long-term performance.

“In the third quarter, factors such as the acquisition of See Tickets, the merger of two strong event companies and the performance of both our Eventim Group and our venue activities enabled us to lay strong foundations for our Group’s long-term success.”

In addition, CTS notes that presales for the 2025 anniversary editions of Germany’s Rock am Ring and Rock im Park have “made an exceptionally strong start”, and says the expansion of the Eventim Live Group in Asia is “continuing to progress”.

Furthermore, it adds the recent merger of Peter Rieger Konzertagentur with DreamHaus “will create substantial synergies” and also references its arena projects in Milan and Vienna.

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Live Nation has said it is “hopeful” the imminent administration change in the US will have a positive impact on its antitrust battle with the Department of Justice (DOJ).

The DOJ has accused the promoter and Ticketmaster, who merged in 2010, of using their “power and influence” to “insert themselves at the centre and the edges of virtually every aspect of the live music ecosystem” in the suit, filed in New York in May.

The defendants vigorously contest the claims, with the case set to go to trial in 2026.

Speaking during Live Nation’s Q3 2024 earnings call yesterday (11 November), the company’s president and CFO Joe Berchtold responded to a shareholder query regarding American president-elect Donald Trump‘s approach to “antitrust and the associated remedies”.

“It’s still very early in the transition process, so we’re hesitant to say too much, but absolutely, we are hopeful that we’ll see a return to the more traditional antitrust approach where the agencies have generally tried to find ways to solve problems they see with targeted remedies that minimise government intervention in the marketplace,” said Berchtold. “And without getting into the specifics, at least some parts of the case, we think believe reflect a much more interventionist philosophy today than you’d expect of a Republican administration.

“Obviously, the request to break up Live Nation and Ticketmaster would be an example of that highly interventionist approach. So, we’ll obviously be ready to engage as soon as they are. They need to get through the appointments and get things settled on their end, but we’d certainly be hopeful that we could start engaging with them early in next year.”

“We wrapped up our most active summer concert season ever, our show pipeline has never been bigger, and brand sponsorships are accelerating”

Berchtold’s comments marked the firm’s first public statement on the matter since Trump’s stunning re-election last week.

Live Nation’s share price has continued to soar in the wake of its Q3 financial results, reaching a new all-time high of $130.76 in after hours trading. It stood at $129.40 at press time, giving the firm a $29.6 billion market cap.

The company posted a record adjusted operating income (AOI) for the period, up 4% from $871.2m to $909.8m, despite revenue being down 6% for the quarter, year-on-year, from $8.1bn to $7.7bn, with takings from its concerts and ticketing segments dipping 6% and 17% respectively. Sponsorship and advertising was up 6%.

“We wrapped up our most active summer concert season ever, our show pipeline has never been bigger, and brand sponsorships are accelerating,” said president and CEO Michael Rapino. “While operating income will be impacted by one-time accruals, we are pacing toward double-digit AOI growth this year.

“As we look toward an even bigger 2025, we have a larger lineup of stadium, arena and amphitheatre shows for fans to enjoy. Momentum continues to build, as we expand the industry’s infrastructure with music-focused venues to support artists and reach untapped fan demand across the globe.”

Live Nation attracted 112m fans globally to its events, as double-digit boost in arena and amphitheatre attendance more than offest a 30%+ decline in stadium attendance.

Growth was projected for 2025, with the concerts pipeline in stadiums, arenas, and amphitheatres up double-digits compared to the same point last year. More than 20 million tickets have already been sold for Live Nation concerts  next year, also pacing up double-digits, with recent 2025 stadium onsales including Coldplay, Rüfüs Du Sol and Shakira delivering double-digit average growth in show grosses relative to past tours.

Sponsorship has continually been our star for the last decade or so

“Next week alone we have over 200 stadium and arena shows going on sale,” said Berchtold. “We’re in a period of unprecedented level of activity for Ticketmaster in Q4, and then that will continue into Q1 and through next year.”

Moreover, Rapino hailed LN’s sponsorship arm, which is also on track for a double-digit increase, as “our star for the last decade or so”.

“We look at this business still very, very strong, very different than maybe some of the advertising challenges other companies have,” he said. “We see overall companies spending more money on-site experiential and moving dollars into that segment and anytime that happens, that’s good for our business. We tend to rise with that.

“We look at ’25 and onward as continual AOI growth that we’ve been able to deliver in the past in sponsorship. One of the foundational drivers of that is our globalisation. And every time we do more shows around the world, we provide ourselves more opportunity and more sponsors. As our global pipe continues to grow, so will our sponsorship and we’ll see continued growth.”

Rapino also discussed the company’s strategy with regards to superfans, suggesting the premium/VIP “pie” was “still under-serviced” and represented an opportunity for substantial growth.

“We’ve been selling to the superfan for quite a while,” he said. “We’ve used percentages in the past: 2%, 4%, 6% of the show is premium. We think it can grow up to 20% and more. So, a lot of the refurbishments we’re doing at venues is about taking regular seats and turning them into better experiences for premium experiences at night.

“Premium experiences is a big underpin to our entire growth forward because it’s using the same customer base, but we always sell out of the boxes, sell out of the premium inventory first, we never have a problem selling that… When we’re building [venues], we’re starting with this mandate that they must have a certain higher percentage of premium seats and lounges and experiences, so those venues start with a much better return.”

Furthermore, Rapino expanded on his recent comments that he would “love” to see regulation of the secondary ticketing market in the form of a 20% price cap. He noted that legislation around resale practices “we’d like to clean up” such as bots and spec-selling “hasn’t really come to life yet”.

“We hope, over time, better regulations get put in place to help the consumer,” he added.

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