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Munich, 26 February 2019. CTS EVENTIM, a leading international provider of Ticketing and Live Entertainment, ended the 2018 financial year with record revenues and earnings. Group revenue increased by 20.1 percent year-on-year to EUR 1.242 billion (previous year: EUR 1.034 billion), normalised EBITDA by 12.9 percent to EUR 231.1 million (previous year: EUR 204.7 million). The Ticketing and Live Entertainment segments both contributed to this significant growth. The normalised EBITDA margin was 18.6 percent (previous year: 19.8 percent).
Klaus-Peter Schulenberg, CEO of CTS EVENTIM, commented: “Our financials show that we are able to further develop CTS EVENTIM from a position of strength. In Ticketing, we increased our growth momentum over the course of the year, and in Live Entertainment, we consolidated our leading role in Europe with well-attended tours and further acquisitions. By winning the contract for collecting the passenger vehicle toll in Germany, we also demonstrated that we can successfully transfer our existing competencies into new business areas.”
In the Ticketing segment, revenue rose – purely organically – by 6.9 percent to EUR 447.1 million (previous year: EUR 418.4 million), while normalised EBITDA increased by 9.6 percent to EUR 195.8 million (previous year: EUR 178.6 million). Among other things, this positive development was impacted by expenses incurred in connection with the introduction of Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The EBITDA margin improved to 43.8 percent (previous year: 42.7 percent). Recording an online ticket volume of 54.3 million (previous year: 48.9 million), CTS EVENTIM sold more than 50 million tickets via its own web shops for the first time ever in a single calendar year – a 10.9 percent increase over 2017.
A good 20 million of this was accounted for by the fourth quarter alone, during which the Ticketing segment set further historical records with its highest quarterly revenue (EUR 170.5 million) and normalised EBITDA (EUR 93.7 million).
In the Live Entertainment segment, CTS EVENTIM recorded a significant revenue increase of 29.7 percent to EUR 812.5 million (previous year: EUR 626.7 million). Besides acquisitions in Italy and Spain, various promoters from CTS EVENTIM’s existing portfolio contributed to this increase, with a higher number of especially well-attended and high-revenue tours compared to the previous year. Organic revenue growth in the segment was in the double-digit percentage range. Since normalised EBITDA rose disproportionately by 35.4 percent to EUR 35.3 million (previous year: EUR 26.1 million), the normalised EBITDA margin increased to 4.4 percent (previous year: 4.2 percent).
In 2019, CTS EVENTIM expects growth in Group revenue and normalised EBITDA. Further details on the outlook and the 2018 business performance will be published in the company’s Annual Report, which will be available online at www.eventim.de, in German and English, from 20 March 2019. CTS EVENTIM’s Management Board and Supervisory Board will also announce their dividend proposal on that day.
About CTS EVENTIM
CTS EVENTIM is one of the leading international providers of Ticketing and Live Entertainment. In 2018, approx. 250 million tickets were marketed using the company’s systems – through stationary box offices, online or mobile. Its online portals operate under brands such as eventim.de, oeticket.com, ticketcorner.ch, ticketone.it, and entradas.com. The EVENTIM Group also includes many concert, tour and festival promoter companies for events like ‘Rock am Ring’, ‘Rock im Park’, ‘Hurricane’, ‘Southside’, and ‘Lucca Summer’. In addition, some of Europe’s most renowned venues are operated by CTS EVENTIM, for example the LANXESS arena in Cologne, the Waldbühne in Berlin and the EVENTIM Apollo in London. CTS EVENTIM AG & Co. KGaA (ISIN DE 0005470306) has been listed on the stock exchange since 2000 and is currently a member of the SDAX segment. In 2018, its 3,141-strong workforce generated more than 1.2 billion Euros in revenue in 21 countries.
