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Munich, 14.05.2009. The CTS Group maintained its strong growth rate in the first quarter of 2009. CTS EVENTIM AG, listed in the SDAX index (ISIN DE 0005470306), is Europe’s market leader in the ticketing field and the world’s third-biggest provider of live entertainment. In the months from January to March 2009, the CTS Group won additional market shares and achieved high double-digit growth in all segments. The main growth drivers were the large number of attractive concerts and tours, and rigorous expansion of the company’s high-margin Internet ticketing business.
In the first quarter of 2009, the CTS Group generated EUR 119.0 million in revenue (Q1/2008: EUR 81.0 million, up 46.9%), an EBIT of EUR 18.1 million (Q1/2008: EUR 9.3 million, up 95.2%) and an EBITDA of EUR 20.2 million (Q1/2008: EUR 10.9 million, up 85.3%). Consolidated net income amounted to EUR 10.2 million (Q1/2008: EUR 5.2 million, up 96.8%), and earnings per share to EUR 0.42 (Q1/2008: EUR 0.22).
In the Ticketing segment, substantially higher revenue and earnings figures are mainly attributable to high-margin ticket sales via the Internet. Between 1 January and 31 March 2009, the CTS Group sold around 3.2 million tickets via the Internet, a year-on-year increase of around 63% (Q1/2008: around 2.0 million). During the quarter, the Group’s online portals logged almost 78 million (Q1/2008: 50.1 million). With revenue at EUR 35.9 million before consolidation of segments (Q1/2008: EUR 24.0 million, up 49.4%), an EBIT of EUR 10.6 million was generated. This figure is 74.2% higher than the EUR 6.1 million achieved in Q1/2008. EBITDA rose to EUR 12.2 million, a 65.8% year-on-year improvement on the Q1/2008 figure of EUR 7.3 million).
The Live Entertainment segment generated EUR 83.9 million in revenue (Q1/2008: EUR 57.7 million, up 45.4%). EBIT came in at EUR 7.5 million (Q1/2008: EUR 3.2 million, up 135.0%), while EBITDA increased to EUR 8.0 million (Q1/2008: EUR 3.6 million, up 125.5%).
During the current business year, efforts will be focused on intensification of Internet ticketing operations, expanding to other countries by making acquisitions and on continued implementation of the long-term cooperation agreement concluded with Live Nation in December 2007 and successfully launched at the start of the year.
At today’s Shareholders’ Meeting, the Management Board and Supervisory Board will propose a dividend for the 2008 business year of EUR 0.61 on each of the 24 million no-par bearer shares (2007 dividend: EUR 0.49). Around EUR 14.6 million is to be distributed in total, compared to EUR 11.8 million in 2008. This will be the fourth year in succession that the Group has paid a dividend.
The full interim report will be available on the Internet at www.eventim.de in both German and English, in an online version and in download form, as from 29 May 2009.
