LYV Posts Big Gains - Pollstar News

Eight appears to be Live Nation’s magic number in the second quarter and first half of 2013. The company reported Aug. 6 that Q2 revenue is $1.7 billion, up 8 percent from one year ago and, for the six-month period ended June 30, the company reported revenue of $2.6 billion, also up 8 percent from the same period last year.

Concert attendance also rose – wait for it – 8 percent in the second quarter. Live Nation reported a profit of $58.1 million, or 30 cents per share, up from Q2 2012’s profit of $7.7 million, or 4 cents per share.

The figure is more than double analyst estimates of 14 cents per share, as polled by Forbes. LYV stock was up more than 6 percent in after-market trading following the earnings release.

“We are well on our way to achieving our 2013 goals with strong performance across our core business segments,” said Live Nation President/CEO Michael Rapino. “Sponsorship & Advertising delivered a 16 percent increase in revenue during the second quarter driven by new sponsors and improved online activity and Ticketmaster revenue was up 3 percent, with 2 percent higher ticket volume. “We strongly believe that the strategies and investments we are implementing today position the company for long-term growth and delivery of our three-year plan.”

Rapino was clearly pleased with the results, saying that 2013 is shaping up to be “our strongest concert season ever.”

In a change from recession-wracked prior years, he said North America “will be the star” this time, rather than international markets.

Concert revenue jumped 11 percent, and adjusted operating income saw an 18 percent rise. Tickets for all events, according to LN COO Joe Berchtold, are up 24 percent. Berchtold reports that more than 500,000 tickets have been sold for upcoming shows in the second half of 2013.

“With the ticket volume already sold for the second half, we are confident we will deliver double-digit growth in concerts,” he said during the earnings call.

Ticketmaster is already seeing 35 percent growth in the secondary ticketing market, and Rapino said he expects market share to increase once Ticketmaster Plus is in place.

Live Nation began rolling out Ticketmaster Plus, its new ticketing platform, in beta to “a handful of shows” in recent weeks, according to Rapino.

Berchtold said the company would continue to focus on mobile ticketing platforms, which already account for 8 percent of worldwide ticket sales in the second quarter. And Rapino added that EDM events, in particular, are not primarily ticketed by TM but the company is developing a white-label EDM platform to tap into that market.

Yet the execs were taking the side of caution regarding Ticketmaster’s revenue, predicting it to remain “flat,” and noting that investment in the platform overhaul continues.

Over in Artist Nation, Berchtold referred to the post-Irving Azoff era as a “transition year,” adding the business has been in decline for several years but is stable for the first half of 2013, “as opposed to last year.” Artist Nation has re-signed all the managers the company considers “the core” of the business, which account for 70 percent of the division’s AOI, Berchtold said. And retention of Ticketmaster clients remains above the 100 percent mark, he added.