CTS EVENTIM: Strong Ticketing finish in 2016

Munich, 16 February 2017. CTS EVENTIM AG & Co. KGaA, listed in the MDAX segment (ISIN DE0005470306), saw its successful growth strategy produce further steady growth in 2016. Strong growth in the Ticketing segment resulted in a significant 7.4% increase in normalised Group EBITDA, despite the anticipated fall in revenue and earnings in the Live Entertainment segment compared to the record achieved in 2015. The management will present its dividend proposal for the 2016 financial year when the Annual Report is published on 23 March 2017.

On the back of the unchanged positive environment for live music and its leading position, the Ticketing segment was able to achieve new records in revenue and normalised EBITDA. The Ticketing segment achieved a 14.1% increase in revenue to exceed the original estimate, generating EUR 395.1 million in revenue (prior year: EUR 346.2 million). The normalised EBITDA figure rose disproportionately strong to EUR 167.3 million (prior year: EUR 142.9 million, up 17.1%); the normalised EBITDA margin came to 42.3% (prior year: 41.3%), with EBITDA at EUR 166.4 million (prior year: EUR 142.4 million, up 16.9%). In the 2016 reporting year, Internet ticketing sales showed organic growth of 15% to around 40.8 million tickets. Owing to expansion in South America and Scandinavia, the total volume of tickets sold online rose 23.1% to 43.7 million tickets.
Following a record year in 2015, performance figures in the Live Entertainment segment were lower, as expected, mainly due to fewer major tours. Revenue fell 11.3% to EUR 439.2 million (prior year: EUR 494.9 million). EBITDA came in at EUR 27.2 million (prior year: EUR 38.1 million, down 28.7%).

Live Entertainment’s expected drop in sales and EBITDA was compensated by a strong performance of Ticketing in 2016. One of the reasons for that was the ongoing strong growth momentum in online ticket volume which translated into higher EBITDA on group level. The development of both segments meant that total CTS Group revenue was almost unchanged at EUR 829.9 million (prior year: EUR 834.2 million). However, normalised Group EBITDA climbed 7.4% to EUR 194.5 million (prior year: EUR 181.0 million). In 2016, the normalised EBITDA margin for the Group amounted to 23.4% (prior year: 21.7%). With this positive performance the normalised EBITDA for the CTS Group could be improved to more than the original estimate.

In the current fiscal year, the CTS Group will maintain its growth focus. Continuous enhancements of the CTS platform driven by well diversified content and maximum customer reach will remain the center of action for the groups’ management. With the development of innovative products and services, supported by comprehensive data analysis, the CTS Group is able to deliver a constantly growing portfolio to all of its customers. Additionally, the CTS Management will continue to scrutinise inorganic growth opportunities. The management expects the rigorous implementation of this strategy to result in growth fiscal year 2017.