Features
CTS Eventim Reports Accelerated Growth In The Second Quarter
CTS Eventim published its Q2/2024 financials, stating the the “group’s growth picked up markedly in the second quarter of 2024.”
Ticketing, in particular, continued to surge, thanks to the figures of recently acquired See Tickets being included in CTS Eventim’s earnings for the first time.
See: Ticketing & Festival Deal Between CTS Eventim & Vivendi Completed
Aside from the traditionally strong home market of Germany, the live giant’s international business activities gave a lot of growth impetus in the second quarter.
Looking at CTS Eventim’s ticketing business, three out of the five biggest-selling events took place in other European countries or South America. They included concerts by Italian rap superstar Ultimo, and South American reggae stars Natiruts.
In the live entertainment segment, four of the top five events took place outside Germany: Bruce Springsteen in Spain, as well as Ultimo, Pinguini Tattici Nucleari, and Max Pezzali in Italy.
This shows the strength of local repertoire, something Eventim Live managing director Fritjhof Pils talked about in his recent Pollstar interview.
This year’s festival season got off to a good start for the CTS Eventim group, with Rock am Ring, Rock im Park, Hurricane, Southside, and Nova Rock celebrating successful editions this year, and boasting “very good” presales for 2025.
“Our successful preparations for ticketing the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024
were one of the operational highlights of the second quarter and the entire project was ultimately a resounding success,” the Q2 earnings press releases continues.
CTS Eventim had finalized a deal with Fnac Darty, owner the French market leader in ticketing France Billet, in 2019, taking a 48 percent stake shares in France Billet. They agreement between both businesses to provide ticketing software and related services for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris was signed in 2022.
CTS Eventim is also an official ticketing partner again for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, and the 2028 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles.
Speaking of Italy, “construction of the Arena for Milan – which, once finished, will be Italy’s largest, most innovative and most sustainable multipurpose indoor arena – remains on schedule,” according to the press release, which adds, that “marketing of the naming rights and exclusive VIP suites, including private skyboxes, lounges and other exclusive spaces, will commence in the autumn.”
As far as the concrete Q2/2024 figures are concerned, consolidated revenue for the entire CTS Eventim Group came to €793.6 million ($883.4 million), a 21.2% increase on the prior-year period, and outstripping the 11.6% growth reported in the first quarter.
Adjusted group EBITDA is growing at an even faster rate at 23.3%, amounting to €110 million ($122 million) in the second quarter.
Across both Q1 and Q2 consolidated revenue came to €1.202 billion ($1.3 billion) (+17.7%); adjusted EBITDA came to €202.2 million ($225 million) (+28.9%).
Revenue in the Ticketing segment grew by 28.5% in the second quarter to €175.2 million ($195 million). Adjusted EBITDA went up by 35.1% to €73.4 million ($81.7 million) in the same period.
For the entire first six months, ticketing revenue stands at €358 million ($399 million), a 25.8% year-on-year increase, with the adjusted EBITDA standing at €156.6 million ($174.3 million) (+29.5%).
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Live entertainment revenues grew by 19.7% in the second quarter to €631.1 million ($702.5 million). Adjusted EBITDA rose by 5% to €36.6 million ($40.7 million) in the same period.
For the first six months, revenues in the live entertainment segment came to
€865.6 million ($963.5 million) (+15.2%), with adjusted EBITDA standing at €45.6 million ($50.8 million) (+26.9%).
“Despite the tremendous upward pressure on costs that continues to weigh on the sector, the adjusted EBITDA margin in the first six months of the year improved to 5.3%, compared with 4.8% in the prior-year period,” according to the earnings statement.
CTS Eventim’s live entertainment business should a further boost from plenty of summer shows, open-air events, and festivals due to take place in the third quarter.
Ticketing business is traditionally at its strongest in the fourth quarter thanks to Christmas trade and advance ticket sales for the next year.
“In light of the strong first six months and the See Tickets entities being consolidated in full from the start of June, the Executive Board is optimistic about business performance in the second half of the year. For 2024 as a whole, the Executive Board now expects adjusted EBITDA to grow significantly year on year,” the statement concludes.
Klaus-Peter Schulenberg, CEO, CTS Eventim, commented, “Our performance in terms of growth and earnings has been excellent in the second quarter of 2024. As announced, we will achieve further growth this year, both organically and through a successful acquisition. Through See Tickets and its associated live entertainment activities, we have not only enhanced our market position in two of our focus markets – the UK and the US – but also expanded our team to include additional highly motivated and highly qualified units. Combined with the innovative technologies and solutions that we have acquired, this is a valuable asset for our company and opens up even more scope for international expansion going forward.”