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Munich, 20 May 2021. Faster vaccination rates and ever-wider reopening worldwide: CTS EVENTIM, one of the leading international providers of ticketing services and live entertainment, reaffirms hopes that live culture will restart in 2021, given that lockdown restrictions to combat the coronavirus pandemic are gradually being lifted. ‘We’re already seeing a significant increase in demand for live events. People’s longing for shared cultural life is reflected immediately in ticket sales’, said the CEO of CTS EVENTIM, Klaus-Peter Schulenberg, when the Group’s first-quarter figures were presented.
A special highlight is the recent joint venture with US promoter Michael Cohl, entered into only last year. More than 300,000 tickets have already been sold for the North American tour of the legendary band Genesis, due to start in Chicago on 15 November. Sales are also recovering in Germany, both for medium-sized events and for top artists.
‘Up and down the country, the stage is set for the gradual opening of bars and restaurants, tourism and also the cultural sector. All this nurtures hopes that the days of no live culture, theatre or concerts are coming to an end’, Klaus-Peter Schulenberg is keen to emphasise. A survey conducted by CTS EVENTIM showed that over 60 percent of respondents would go to a live event straight away as soon as the authorities allow it.
‘Our focus is still on strict cost management and efficiency’, Klaus-Peter Schulenberg insisted. Despite the pressures imposed by more than a year of coronavirus restrictions, the Group’s financial foundations remain very robust, as manifested by EUR 666.8 million in cash and cash equivalents at the end of the first quarter of 2021.
The start to the year was overshadowed by the impacts of the coronavirus restrictions, with first-quarter Group revenue retreating 89.4 percent year-on-year to EUR 19.6
million (Q1/2020: EUR 184.6 million). Normalised EBITDA came in at EUR -19.6 million (Q1/2020: EUR 13.5 million).
First-quarter revenue in the Ticketing segment was 83.0 percent lower year-on-year, at EUR 13.5 million (Q1/2020: EUR 79.0 million). Normalised EBITDA fell year-on-year from EUR 16.9 million to EUR -13.4 million.
In the Live Entertainment segment, revenue in the first quarter of 2021 was down 93.7 percent year-on-year, at EUR 6.8 million (Q1/2020: EUR 108.6 million). The normalised EBITDA figure came in at EUR -6.2 million (Q1/2020: EUR -3.3 million).
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 stationary 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, some of Europe’s most renowned venues are operated by CTS EVENTIM, 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 a situation dominated by extensive bans and restrictions on events as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the Group generated revenues totalling EUR 256.8 million in 21 countries in 2020, after more than EUR 1.4 billion the year before.
