Academy Revenue Up

UK Concert promoter Denis Desmond reckons the Academy Music Group venue business he co-owns will bring in £8 million ($12.3 million) this year.

He told the Irish Examiner that last year 2.5 million visited the 19 outlets run by AMG.

Desmond and Live Nation jointly hold a 56 percent share in the business, which has London’s O2 Brixton Academy as its flagship.

Other shareholders include UK promoters Metropolis Music and SJM Concerts.

Accounts recently filed by AMG to Companies House in the UK show that last year it recorded earnings of about £6.8 million ($10.5 million), before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization.

“They’re good results and in the current climate, we are very happy with them,” Desmond told the Examiner.
“We are pleased and this year we are projecting earnings of £8 million. The UK operation is doing particularly well, but there is always room for improvement.

“Some of the venues are doing really well this year and this is helped by a lot of bands touring at the moment. The live music business is good right now in the UK,” he said.

Desmond also confirmed that AMG has recently extended its naming rights and sponsorship deal with O2 to run to 2018.

“We are looking to expand and looking at different sites and will maybe add one or two,” Desmond said of AMG’s immediate plans.

AMG also reduced its pre-tax loss.  AMG reported pre-tax losses were constant at about £1.41 million ($2.2 million), although the downside included combined non-cash depreciation and amortization costs of £4 million ($6.2 million) and a similar amount of interest payments.

The group’s operating profit remained at £2.6 million ($4 million).

The AMG directors’ report says “the group continues, under its updated financing facility, to achieve targets set under the group’s business plan, with an outlook for significant growth.

“The group’s strength is demonstrated in the cashflow statement which shows cash inflows from operating activities of £8.3m which more than covers debt servicing outflows of £3.4 million.”

AMG’s cash increased from £5.3 million to £7.6 million during the year. Last year the number of employees reduced from 370 to 340 with staff costs decreasing from £7.2 million to £7.1 million.