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Munich, 24 March 2022. CTS EVENTIM, one of the leading international providers of ticketing services and live entertainment, is optimistic about its prospects for 2022 after two pandemic-hit years, and believes it is well positioned for a re-start of the live entertainment sector. “The number of events on offer in our ticketing systems is increasing with each new day, a clear sign of growing confidence within the events industry, and we anticipate that festivals and large-open air events will begin to resume from the second quarter onwards, after an enforced break of two years,” said Klaus-Peter Schulenberg, CEO of CTS EVENTIM, when presenting the Company’s 2021 annual report. “These financial results provide further evidence of the strength and financial stability of the Group. 2021 was also a year in which key strategic initiatives strengthened our international position.”
The report revealed that consolidated revenue came to €407.8 million in 2021 (previous year: €256.8 million), an increase of 58.8 per cent that was driven mainly by a resurgence in ticket sales, with top artists such as Ed Sheeran, Genesis and Udo Lindenberg among the bestsellers. Normalised EBITDA for 2021 rose to €208.0 million (previous year: loss of €2.9 million), thanks to cost savings, an improved operating business and extensive government aid programmes introduced in Germany and other countries. The biggest component of this aid comprised coronavirus support of around €157 million granted by the German government, of which around €100 million was attributable to the 2020 November/December Assistance under the economic aid programme in connection with coronavirus. Consolidated revenue for the fourth quarter of 2021, meanwhile, was up to €227.8 million, compared with €28.1 million in the equivalent period of the previous year. Normalised EBITDA for the quarter amounted to €102.6 million (previous year: €14.8 million).
In the Ticketing segment, revenue for 2021 as a whole improved by 77.0 per cent to €224.1 million (previous year: €126.6 million). Normalised EBITDA stood at €177.1 million, following a loss of €23.6 million in 2020. In the fourth quarter of 2021, there was a very sharp increase in revenue to €113.5 million (previous year: €19.5 million), while normalised EBITDA rose to €85.8 million (previous year: loss of €11.0 million).
Annual revenue in the Live Entertainment segment advanced by 39.7 per cent in 2021 to reach €191.1 million (previous year: €136.8 million). Normalised EBITDA for the segment came to €30.9 million (previous year: €20.7 million). In the last three months of the reporting year, revenue generated by Live Entertainment improved to €117.0 million, compared with €9.5 million in the final quarter of 2020. The segment’s normalised EBITDA for the fourth quarter totalled €16.8 million (previous year: €25.8 million).
Despite the ongoing negative impact of coronavirus-related restrictions, the Group continued to strengthen its position in international markets and with digital products in 2021.
For example, the promoter network EVENTIM LIVE launched EVENTIM LIVE ASIA in the Far East last autumn. This followed on from the joint venture EMC Presents, which was established with US promoter Michael Cohl in 2020, who organised the Group’s first tour in the USA at the end of 2021, with Genesis as the headline act. Based in Singapore, the new EVENTIM LIVE ASIA business unit will focus on the fast-growing live entertainment markets in China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines.
CTS EVENTIM also entered the highly attractive North American ticketing market in September 2021 when it launched its eventim.com platform. The objective is to establish an alternative to the dominant providers in the United States and Canada. The platform eventim.com puts the Company in an ideal position to benefit from the restart of live entertainment in this market.
The Group’s flagship project is the construction of a multipurpose arena in Milan, which will be the largest and most innovative of its kind in Italy. CTS EVENTIM secured the services of British star architect Sir David Chipperfield for the design, which promises
to be a showpiece venue on the global stage. Scheduled for completion in autumn 2025, the arena will accommodate up to 16,000 people and have more than 10,000 square metres of outdoor space for open-air events. Construction is set to begin in autumn 2022. The arena’s inaugural event will be the 2026 Olympic Winter Games, which will also be when CTS EVENTIM takes over operation of the arena.
The tickets for Ed Sheeran’s European tour were the first to be sold by CTS EVENTIM exclusively through its proprietary digital ticket, EVENTIM.Pass. The objective was to provide even better protection against the unauthorised resale of tickets. Tickets can only be downloaded to the purchaser’s smartphone using the EVENTIM.App.
In October 2021, CTS EVENTIM acquired a majority stake in software and hardware developer simply-X. The Group has thus strengthened its position in the market for innovative access control solutions and enhanced its offering with integrated, high-performance digital systems.
And by acquiring the regional ticketing providers Kölnticket and Bonnticket, CTS EVENTIM has also further expanded its presence in the prosperous Rhineland region. In recent years, Kölnticket and Bonnticket had already partnered successfully with CTS EVENTIM in the areas of ticketing software and platform technology.
Outlook for 2022
Although the Management Board of CTS EVENTIM is optimistic about the Company’s prospects for 2022, it does not feel able to give any precise guidance for the year. This is due to ongoing uncertainty about the future trajectory of the coronavirus pandemic and to the unpredictable nature of the current geopolitical situation.
The annual report will be available online at corporate.eventim.de on publication of this press release.
About CTS EVENTIM
CTS EVENTIM is one of the leading international providers of ticketing services and live entertainment. Before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, around 250 million tickets per annum were marketed using the Company’s systems – be it through physical box offices, online, or from mobile terminals. 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, CTS EVENTIM operates some of Europe’s most renowned venues, for example the LANXESS Arena in Cologne, the K.B. Hallen in Copenhagen, 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 MDAX segment. In 2021, against a backdrop of forced closures, cancellations, and restrictions on events as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the Group generated revenue totalling €407.8 million in more than 20 countries. In 2019, the year before the outbreak of the pandemic, revenue was in excess of €1.4 billion.
