CTS Eventim Improves Q3 Revenue 84% Above Pre-Pandemic Level

A rebound in the live music business helped German concert promoter CTS Eventim improve its revenues to 694.4 million euros in the third quarter ($699.3 million at the average exchange rate in the quarter), 84% higher than the same period in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic, the company announced Thursday. 

Revenue increased due to contributions from pre-sales, the staging of events and higher income from currency conversion. That was offset by a reduction in COVID-19 economic aide, received as compensation for event cancellations or events with reduced capacity, of 76.8 million euros ($77.3 million) from the prior-year period. 

“These excellent results are testimony to the fact that our strategic initiatives are taking us from strength to strength following the post-pandemic restart of live entertainment,” said CEO Klaus-Peter Schulenberg in a statement. “Even in the face of new uncertainties caused by the high level of inflation and geopolitical factors, we will maintain this proven course in order to continue to drive our profitable growth, both at home and abroad.”

The live entertainment segment’s revenue was 563 million euros ($566.9 million) in the third quarter, up 103.6 from the same period in 2019, and 1.11 billion euros ($1.11 billion) in the nine-month period, a 42% improvement. Live entertainment EBITDA was 64 million euros ($64.4 million), about triple the amount in the same period of 2019. 

The ticketing segment’s revenue improved to 137 million ($138 million) in the third quarter, up 28% from the same period in 2019, and to 339 million ($341.1 million) for the nine-month period, up 10.4% from 2019. CTS Eventim sold 17.2 million tickets in the quarter and 45.1 million tickets in the nine-month period, increases of 31% and 23%, respectively, from the pre-pandemic periods in 2019. 

The company’s staff, including part-time workers, grew from 2,357 a year ago to 2,956 at the end of the third quarter.

The company sounded an alarm about rising costs stemming from higher personnel costs in security, catering and stage technology “induced by an increasing shortage of specialists in the event industry and at least temporarily higher demand due to the fact that both postponed and new events are currently being held at the same time,” it explained in its earnings release. The fourth-quarter results could be hampered by rising energy prices and a possible pullback of fan spending due to inflation’s impact on household purchasing power. 

Still, CTS Eventim is going to have a record year in 2022. The company expects full-year revenue of 1.7 billion euros ($1.71 billion) and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of 330 million euros ($332.3 million). That would represent gains of 17.8% and 16.2% over 2019, which was a record year for CTS Eventim. The company’s tenor improved from a quarter ago, when management was unable to provide a precise forecast for 2022 “owing to uncertainty about the pandemic and the geopolitical situation going forward.”

CTS Eventim shares fell 0.3% to 56.00 euros on Thursday. Year to date, the share price is down 13%.