Home
Munich, 23.02.2010. Even in the worst economic crisis, the ticketing business for music, cultural and sports events is proving to be very stable and robust. More than 80 million tickets were sold last year using the systems developed and operated by the EVENTIM Group. CTS EVENTIM AG, listed in the SDAX index (ISIN DE 0005470306), achieved substantial increases in revenue and EBIT in the 2009 business year and further consolidated its position as Europe’s market leader in all its segments.
In the period from 1 January to 31 December 2009, the CTS Group generated EUR 466.7 million in revenue (2008: EUR 404.4 million, up 15.4%), an EBIT of EUR 71.3 million (2008: EUR 50.3 million, up 41.8%) and an EBITDA of EUR 80.0 million (2008: EUR 57.8 million, up 38.3%). The Management Board will present the Group net income, earnings per share and a dividend proposal at the end of March, after finalisation of the annual financial statements.
In the Ticketing segment, international expansion and high-margin Internet ticket sales produced yet another boost in revenue and earnings figures. The CTS Group sold around 13.4 million tickets via the Internet – a year-on-year increase of around 40% (2008: around 9.6 million). More than 303 million visitors were logged by the online portals operated by EVENTIM (2008: 232 million). With revenue at EUR 152.5 million before consolidation of segments (2008: EUR 120.1 million, up 26.9%), an EBIT of EUR 49.0 million was generated. This figure is 41.8% higher than the EUR 34.6 million achieved the year before. EBITDA, at EUR 55.4 million, was up 38.2% (2008: EUR 40.1 million).
The Live Entertainment segment achieved its best-ever results since the IPO in 2000, with revenue rising 10.7% to reach EUR 318.7 million (2008: EUR 288 million); this rise was attributable to successful concert tours, particularly those organised by the Marek Lieberberg concert agency, to a greater number of events and to the creation of new types of events. EBIT was 41.6% higher at EUR 22.2 million (2008: EUR 15.7 million), while EBITDA increased 38.4% to EUR 24.5 million (2008: EUR 17.7 million).
In 2010, the Group will remain focused on continuous growth of its Internet ticketing operations and on international expansion. In Great Britain, CTS EVENTIM successfully launched itself on the national ticketing market on 1 February 2010. Contracts to acquire Ticketcorner, the leader of the Swiss ticketing market, were signed in Zurich on 19 February 2010. The Management Board expects the Group to progress well in the 2010 business year and to achieve yet another improvement in revenue and earnings.
