CTS EVENTIM posts further boost in revenue and earnings

Munich, 27.08.2014. CTS EVENTIM AG & Co. KGaA, listed on the SDAX exchange (ISIN DE0005470306), succeeded in the first half of the 2014 financial year in reinforcing its position as market leader in the ticketing and live entertainment markets in Germany and neighbouring European countries, as a result of both organic growth and growth by acquisition. After the successful first quarter of 2014, the second quarter was negatively impacted by a major international sporting event, the football World Cup in Brazil. The dominance of this major international sporting event meant that fewer events were offered for presale and that fewer events in Live Entertainment took place .  
 
For the first half of 2014, the CTS Group reports total revenue of EUR 339.5 million (HY1/2013: EUR 312.3 million, up 8.7%), a normalised EBITDA of EUR 65.0 million (HY1/2013: EUR 63.4 million, up 2.6%) and a normalised EBIT before amortisation from purchase price allocation of EUR 57.0 million (HY1/2013: EUR 57.3 million, minus 0.5%). EBITDA improved by 5.4% to EUR 64.5 million (HY1/2013: EUR 61.2 million), and EBIT by 2.5% to EUR 51.1 million (HY1/2013: EUR 49.9 million).  
 
The Ticketing segment posted a significant 12.2% revenue growth (before intersegment consolidation) to reach EUR 129.9 million (HY1/2013: EUR 115.7 million). Normalised EBITDA was up 15.1% at EUR 46.1 million (HY1/2013: EUR 40.1 million), while normalised EBIT before amortisation from purchase price allocation was up 12.0% at EUR 39.2 million (HY1/2013: EUR 35.0 million). EBITDA was 20.4% higher at EUR 45.6 million (HY1/2013: EUR 37.9 million), while EBIT increased 20.6% to EUR 33.6 million (HY1/2013: EUR 27.8 million). The Ticketing segment’s highly profitable online business impressed with an Internet ticketing volume of 12.2 million tickets (HY1/2013: 10.3 million, up 18.9%), also contributed by the acquisitions.  
 
The Live Entertainment segment achieved a 6.9% year-on-year increase in revenue to EUR 213.6 million (HY1/2013: EUR 199.8 million) due to the expansion of the number of consolidated companies. As expected, EBITDA fell 18.9% to EUR 18.9 million (HY1/2013: EUR 23.3 million), due to the absence of major events that was partly attributable to the football World Cup. The EBIT figure was down 20.3% at EUR 17.6 million (HY1/2013: EUR 22.0 million).  
 
In 2014, the CTS Group continues to focus on growing its Internet ticketing business, expanding internationally and on developing and launching new products and services. The Management Board expects further growth in both revenue and earnings in the current financial year.