CTS EVENTIM: Ticketing boom continues in 2011

Munich, 16.05.2011. CTS EVENTIM AG, listed in the SDAX index (ISIN DE0005470306), proved its unique position in the European ticketing market once again in the first quarter of fiscal 2011. Revenue was boosted 35.9% to EUR 54.8 million in the Ticketing segment. The highly profitable Internet business, especially, continues to grow at a double-digit rate: around 106 million people visited the EVENTIM portals in Q1 (prior year: 87 million), ordering 4.8 million tickets in total – a year-on-year increase of around 24%. The Live Entertainment segment, in contrast, was unable to beat the record set the previous year, also due to the scheduled reduction in revenue following the deconsolidation of the FKP Scorpio Group since 1 July 2010, and recorded a decline in revenue and EBIT. The ticketing business for music, cultural and sports events proved to be exceedingly robust and sustainable, even in the recent years of the economic and financial crisis. For the current 2011 business year also, the Management Board expects the Group to progress well and to achieve yet another improvement in revenue and earnings. 
 
In the period from 1 January to 31 March 2011, the CTS Group generated EUR 101.0 million in revenue (Q1/2010: EUR 127.8 million, down 21.0%), a normalised EBITDA of EUR 23.6 million (Q1/2010: EUR 25.6 million, down 8.0%) and a normalised EBIT before amortisation from purchase price allocation (Ticketcorner Holding AG and See Tickets Germany GmbH) of EUR 20.7 million (Q1/2010: EUR 23.4 million, down 11.7%). Due to the acquisition of See Tickets Germany GmbH, and the pending arbitration proceedings against Live Nation, the operating profit is temporarily reduced by personnel restructuring and legal consultancy expenses. After these non-recurring items, the EBITDA figure amounts to EUR 20.2 million (Q1/2010: EUR 25.1 million, down 19.6%), while the EBIT amounts to EUR 14.5 million (Q1/2010: EUR 22.7 million, down 36.2%).  
 
In the Ticketing segment, organic growth in the core European markets and a number of successful acquisitions resulted in a substantial 35.9% increase in revenue to EUR 54.8 million before consolidation between the segments, compared to EUR 40.3 million in Q1/2010. CTS EVENTIM sold 4.8 million tickets via the Internet alone in the period under review – a year-on-year increase of around 24% (Q1/2010: 3.9 million). Around 106 million visits to the EVENTIM web portals were logged (Q1/2010: 87 million). The impacts of the aforementioned non-recurring items were confined to the Ticketing segment. The normalised EBITDA was up 27.6% at EUR 18.6 million (Q1/2010: EUR 14.6 million), while normalised EBIT before amortisation from purchase price allocation was up 25.1% at EUR 16.3 million (Q1/2010: EUR 13.0 million). After these non-recurring items, EBITDA was 8.3% higher at EUR 15.3 million (Q1/2010: EUR 14.1 million), while EBIT decreased 18.1% to EUR 10.0 million (Q1/2010: EUR 12.3 million).  
 
In the Live Entertainment segment, as expected, the first quarter of 2011 did not achieve the quarterly record set in 2010. The main reasons for the unusual success of the segment last year were the large number of highly successful tours and events. The deconsolidation of the FKP Scorpio Group, in conjunction with the acquisition of See Tickets Germany GmbH, also had a negative impact on revenue and earnings as expected. This explains why revenue in the first quarter of 2011 totalled only EUR 48.2 million (Q1/2010: EUR 89.1 million; down 45.9%). EBITDA was 55.3% lower at EUR 4.9 million (Q1/2010: EUR 11.0 million), while EBIT fell 57.6% to EUR 4.4 million (Q1/2010: EUR 10.4 million). 
 
In 2011, the Group will remain focused on the continuous growth of Internet ticketing operations, on international expansion and on integrating its newly acquired companies.