Ticketing EBITDA up 26.0% - Unabated growth for CTS EVENTIM

Munich, 25 February 2015. CTS EVENTIM AG & Co. KGaA, listed in the SDAX index (ISIN DE0005470306), achieved further increases in revenue and earnings throughout the group in 2014, both in Germany and in neighbouring European countries, as a result of organic growth and growth by acquisition. Following a successful first-quarter start to 2014, the second and third quarter were affected by the Football World Cup in Brazil, a major sports event whose dominance meant fewer events being offered in ticketing presales and fewer events being held. In the traditionally strong fourth quarter, operating figures were significantly boosted by numerous presale launches for major forthcoming events. The management will present its dividend proposal for the past financial year when the Annual Report is published on 31 March 2015.  
 
The preliminary figures of the CTS Group show excellent progress in business performance in the 2014 financial year. Revenue improved by 9.9% to reach EUR 690.3 million (2013: EUR 628.3 million), while normalised EBITDA rose by 14.4% to EUR 155.8 million (2013: EUR 136.3 million). Normalised EBIT, before amortisation from purchase price allocation, was up 12.0% year-on-year at EUR 138.6 million (2013: EUR 123.7 million). The EBITDA figure rose to EUR 154.6 million (2013: EUR 133.9 million, up 15.5%), and the EBIT figure to EUR 126.2 million (2013: EUR 110.9 million, up 13.8%).  
 
The revenue generated by the Ticketing segment in the 2014 financial year, before consolidation between segments, was significantly higher at EUR 319.2 million, up 18.4% from EUR 269.7 million in 2013. Thanks to a large number of attractive events and the traditionally strong fourth quarter, revenue and earnings showed a strong year-on-year improvement. The total volume of tickets sold online increased by 28.9% to 30.7 million (2013: 23.8 million), with acquisitions made during the year accounting for 3.4 million tickets in all. These growth rates highlight once again the leading position held by the CTS Group in the field of online ticketing for live events of many different kinds. The normalised EBITDA was up 24.3% at EUR 129.6 million (2013: EUR 104.3 million), while normalised EBIT before amortisation from purchase price allocation was up 21.9% at EUR 114.4 million (2013: EUR 93.9 million). The EBITDA figure is EUR 128.4 million (2013: EUR 101.9 million, up 26.0%), the EBIT figure EUR 102.6 million (2013: EUR 81.6 million, up 25.7%).  
 
The Live Entertainment segment achieved a slight 3.6% year-on-year increase in revenue to EUR 379.2 million (2013: EUR 365.8 million), mainly due to additional revenue generated by the Swiss Live Entertainment companies newly consolidated the year before. As expected, EBITDA fell 18.0% to EUR 26.2 million (2013: EUR 32.0 million), due to the absence of major events that was also partly attributable to the Football World Cup in Brazil. The EBIT figure is down 19.5% at EUR 23.6 million (2013: EUR 29.3 million).  
 
The management expects business to progress well in 2015 and that the year as a whole will be a successful one for the Group. This forecast is based on further expansion of Internet ticketing operations, rigorous international expansion and the launching of innovative new products and services by the CTS Group.