Broken revenue record after nine months

CTS EVENTIM continues its dynamic growth and reports record figures at the end of the first three quarters: 2.027 billion euros in revenue and 322.7 million euros in adjusted EBITDA. This results in an almost unchanged high adjusted EBITDA margin of 15.9 % (2023: 16.4 %). Despite the increasingly challenging economic environment and sustained cost pressures, the group remains on a stable growth path.

The long-term group strategy focuses on organic growth, the expansion of lucrative business areas, smart acquisitions, and the development of the venue business. As a result, CTS EVENTIM delivers dynamic and resilient growth.

Group

Group revenue grew by 15.8 % in the first nine months of 2024 compared to the same period in the previous year, reaching 2.027 billion euros. Adjusted EBITDA increased by 12.1 % to 322.7 million euros.

In addition to organic growth in Germany and the leading European markets, recent acquisitions have also sustainably driven revenue development. The ticketing company See Tickets, strongly positioned in the UK and USA, was fully consolidated for a complete quarter for the first time. The ticketing businesses acquired at the end of 2023 in Chile (Punto Ticket) and Peru (Teleticket) also performed exceptionally well. Integration costs were in line with expectations and have no impact on long-term business development. Positive synergy effects will fully unfold in future reporting periods.

Ticketing

In the Ticketing segment, revenue from January to September 2024 increased by 22.9 % compared to the previous year, reaching 564.6 million euros. Adjusted EBITDA rose by 18.4 % to 240.7 million euros in the first nine months.

The dynamic growth in the Ticketing segment was mainly driven by a diverse content portfolio of various artists, genres, and events, as well as a broad geographical spread. Major revenue drivers among artists in the third quarter included Ed Sheeran, Iron Maiden, Gilberto Gil, and Vasco Rossi.

The seamless on-site implementation of ticketing at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics was the crowning achievement of another successful major sports ticketing project. The almost simultaneous awarding of the ticketing contract for the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics to the subsidiary TicketOne was further confirmation of the team’s reliability and technological infrastructure.

Projects for integrating See Tickets subsidiaries are already underway to realize synergy effects as quickly as possible. Following approval by antitrust authorities for the acquisition of a majority stake in France’s leading ticketing company, France Billet, the option to purchase an additional 17 % of the shares will be exercised by the end of November, with consolidation starting in December of this year.

Live Entertainment

In the Live Entertainment segment, revenue for the first nine months rose by 13.6 % year-on-year to 1.494 billion euros. Adjusted EBITDA saw a slight decline of 3.0 % to 82.1 million euros. Reasons for this include the persistently high cost pressures on organizers and integration costs for the live activities acquired as part of the See Tickets deal.

The start of pre-sales for the 2025 anniversary editions of the signature festivals Rock am Ring and Rock im Park was extremely positive. The expansion of the EVENTIM LIVE group in Asia continues and offers new opportunities for both international and local acts in the region and beyond.

The merger of the Peter Rieger Konzertagentur with DreamHaus combines the expertise and strengths of two major players in the German event business and will generate significant synergies.

The construction and subsequent operation of Italy's largest, most innovative, and sustainable indoor arena in Milan are on schedule. In addition, CTS EVENTIM has been awarded the contract by Wien Holding for the construction and operation of another large arena.

Outlook

Given the strong figures for the first nine months of 2024, the board maintains its forecast for the full year and expects a significantly higher adjusted EBITDA compared to the previous year.

Klaus-Peter Schulenberg, CEO of CTS EVENTIM, commented: “CTS EVENTIM is continuing to deliver stable growth in an increasingly volatile political and economic environment. The strategy of boosting rapid expansion and making the portfolio more financially resilient has proved to be key to our Group’s long-term performance. In the third quarter, factors such as the acquisition of See Tickets, the merger of two strong event companies and the performance of both our EVENTIM LIVE Group and our venue activities enabled us to lay strong foundations for our Group’s long-term success.” (stadiaworld, 25.11.2024)