German DEAG Increases Revenues And Earnings In First Half Of 2018

Prof. Peter Schwenkow
Till Brönner
– Prof. Peter Schwenkow
Founder and CEO of DEAG

In the first half of 2018, German DEAG group recorded a 34.2 percent increase in revenues to €118.0 million ($138 million), as well as an EBIT growth from €2.2 million to €8.1 million ($9.5 million) year-on-year.
The company also increased its operating EBIT from €0.3 million in the first six months of 2017 to €2.8 million ($3.3 million) in the same period this year – a figure that’s been adjusted for the effect of the acquisition of 49 percent of DEAG Classics AG and the sale of Raymond Gubbay Limited with a profit on deconsolidation of €5.3 million ($6.2 million).
What has also changed since last year is the fact that DEAG pulled the plug on its Austrian subsidiary, Vienna-based Blue Moon Entertainment, through which it used to operate as local promoter. 
The company states that open-air events, rock/pop tours, classical events, theatre productions and family shows, as well as the ticketing business in its core markets Germany and UK contributed to its positive development. 
DEAG announced that it plans to issue a bond to finance its further development and to diversify its financing structure. DEAG has mandated IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG in Düsseldorf for this purpose.
DEAG’s leadership, which comprises Prof. Peter Schwenkow (CEO), Christian Diekmann (COO/CDO), Detlef Kornett (CMO) and Ralph Quellmalz (CFO), is optimistic about reaching its earnings forecast for the full year 2018. “With a well-filled pipeline of events and over two million tickets already sold, DEAG has a solid basis for further development in the financial year,” a joint statement reads.
Besides the aforementioned business moves, DEAG also bought back 24.9 percent of the shares in MyTicket AG and now holds 75.1 percent of the company. The company also underscored its commitment to what it considers its second home market, the UK, by acquiring 100 percent of Belladrum Festival in Scotland, which sold out for the ninth consecutive year in 2018.