Live Nation reports on the return of live concerts
Live Nation Entertainment reported Q2 results, and while there are positive signs of improvement, the numbers fell well short of 2019.
“We expect to see further ramp-up accelerate through the rest of the year.”
According to yesterday’s financial filings, Live Nation $575.9M for the quarter, which is unsurprisingly well ahead of 2020’s Q2 but a fraction of the $3.15 billion the company reported for Q2 2019.
Breakdowns reveal that the lion’s share – or $526.4m of the revenue came from the concerts division, while ticketing and sponsorships contributed $272.3m and $67.2m respectively.
Live Nation’s adjusted operating income for Q2 shows the company managed to tip into the black for the quarter, with the concerts division losing $84m for the quarter, while ticketing and sponsorships generated AOI of $99.4m and $13m respectively.
“The momentum for the return to live events has been building every month, with ticket sales and concert attendance pacing faster than expected, underscoring the strength and resiliency of the concert business and live events in general. This progress, combined with our cost discipline, has enabled us to deliver positive adjusted operating income for the second quarter, well ahead of where we thought we would for this quarter. We expect to see further ramp-up accelerate through the rest of the year, with improving operating income and all segments returning to adjusted operating income profitability for the second half of the year, setting us up for a full-scale 2022,” said Live Nation’s Michael Rapino in the company’s earnings release.
As part of their earnings release, Live Nation shared some statistics about the company’s operations for the quarter, reporting that it staged 1,124 during the period, with 48,561 tickets sold.
Live Nation also revealed that event-related deferred revenue was up sharply, reaching $2.1 billion as of June 30, 2021, compared to $0.9 billion as of June 30, 2020. In addition, Live Nation reported long-term deferred revenue of $381 million for events that have been rescheduled more than one year out as of June 30, 2021.
Despite the slow recovery, Live Nation touted success in several key areas, including the concert pipeline, which is up by double digits from 2019, bolstered by touring plans that extend through 2024. As well, Ticketmaster saw its fourth-best month in the company’s history for transacted ticket value during the quarter.
“As we put more shows on-sale this year and next, ticket sales are the best early indicator for concerts and our overall business. To that end, June was Ticketmaster North America’s 4th best month in history for transacted ticket volume driven in part by our U.S. concerts division putting the highest number of shows on sale ever during a single month – 50% more than the next highest month back in March 2019,” Rapino said.
via CelebrityAccess
