Features
DEAG Records Sales And Earnings Increase In Q3
Joseph Okpako/WireImage – Gorillaz performed two nights at London’s O2 this summer, when venues in the UK had opened back up at full capacity.
The shows, including a free gig for NHS workers and their families, were promoted by Kilimanjaro Live, a subsidiary of DEAG.
German live entertainment giant Deutsche Entertainment Aktiengesellschaft (DEAG) recorded “a significant upturn in its operating business” in the third quarter of the financial year 2021, following “a period in which the first six months were still heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the related concert cancellations and postponements,” DEAG’s current earnings release states.
The increase in sales in the third quarter is largely due to the operating business in DEAG’s most important market outside Germany, the UK, where concerts have been taking place at full capacity for a while now.
Through its UK-based subsidiary Kilimanjaro Live, DEAG organized sold-out concerts and tours, most notably by Gorillaz, among other artists.
But the company also promoted some initial events in Germany, where “the situation continues to brighten for the company and the entire live entertainment industry, even if this is taking place at a slower pace,” as the earnings statement words it.
In concrete numbers, sales in the third quarter of 2021 increased by 126% from €7.4 million ($8.3 million) to €16.7 million ($18.8 million). Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 617% from €0.6 million ($0.7 million) to €4.3 million ($4.9 million).
Looking at the first nine months of the current financial year, which are now in the books, sales revenues amounted to €24.1 million ($27.1 million). It marks a 38% drop compared to the nine-month period of 2020 (€39.1 million), when the first quarter at least was only slightly affected by the pandemic.
EBITDA after the first nine months of 2021 amounted to €13.3 million ($15 million), compared to €0.3 million in the same period of last year.
Till Brönner – Prof. Peter Schwenkow
Founder and CEO of DEAG.
Aside from DEAG’s UK business, “the group’s own ticketing platforms, the companies acquired in 2021 as part of DEAG’s acquisition and integration strategy together with the provision of new services by DEAG besides the actual core business of entertainment also contributed significantly to the increase in earnings. Furthermore, the increase in earnings is due to the enormous cost-cutting programme in the Group as well as inflows from subsidy programmes, which DEAG has taken advantage of in all national markets, and DEAG’s continued full insurance coverage,” the statement continues.
DEAG is optimistic about the upcoming Christmas season, having expanded it Christmas Garden brand to 18 locations in total.
New additions include the locations in Cologne, Frankfurt/Main, Hanover and abroad in Paris, Barcelona and Windsor Park in London. “Based on these, the significant revival in the UK and growth impulses from the companies acquired in 2021, DEAG expects another significant increase in earnings with high visibility in the fourth quarter of 2021,” the earnings statement concludes.
Prof. Peter L.H. Schwenkow, CEO of DEAG, commented: “DEAG and the entire live entertainment industry are finally gaining momentum again after well over a year without concerts and events. We look forward to offering our visitors hundreds of concerts and events in the months to come and expect to achieve a significant increase in earnings in the fourth quarter.
“In the meantime, the situation with the epidemic in Europe is leading to a daily reassessment of the current situation in all national markets. We are adequately protected against possible risks arising for us from the currently rising corona figures by extensive measures taken by the respective country governments and our insurance coverage. Our very robust financial position and a uniquely high event density for 2022 show our excellent positioning for growth in the coming year.”