Live Nation Reports Record Results For Q3, Revenue Up 12%

Promoter Live Nation reported their best quarter for Q3 2017, with record results across revenue, operating income and adjusted operating income. The company reported that revenue was up 12%, operating income was up 5% and AOI was up 10% vs. the same period in 2016, with their concerts, advertising, and ticketing operations all reporting record AOI.Live Nation says their concert business had almost 30 million customers globally for the quarter and through October, they report the sale of more than 80 million tickets for concerts in 2017, up 20% year-on-year improvement."With continued strong global demand for concerts, through the third quarter we drove a 16% increase in attendance, to 65 million fans at our 20,000 shows in 40 countries. While growing our show count, we have also increased the revenue generated by each show. We do this first by growing attendance per show, which is up 6% overall so far this year, again led by arenas and stadiums each delivering strong increases in fans per show. And secondly we worked with artists to better align the pricing for their best tickets with market value — this yielded an average 9% increase in front-of-house ticket prices across our US amphitheater, arena and stadium shows so far this year," Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino said in a statement announcing the company's financial results.Live Nation's ticketing unit Ticketmaster reported 14% growth for the nine months in global fee-bearing gross transaction value and is on track to deliver almost 500 million tickets worth approximately $28 billion in GTV across 29 countries this year, the company said."Overall, Ticketmaster's results are validating our dual strategy of delivering a great marketplace for fans to buy tickets while providing the greatest value to venues, teams and artists looking to control their tickets and maximize the value of their events. By continuing to do both effectively, I currently expect us to deliver high-single-digit growth in Ticketing operating income and AOI this year," Rapino said.Live Nation also reported a boost their sponsorship and advertising operation, with revenue up by 16% to 158m year-on-year for the quarter, and AOI improving to 106.7 million vs. 95.5 in Q3, 2016."In our high-margin sponsorship business we have continued our double-digit growth this year, with revenue up 20%, operating income up 13% and AOI up 15% for the nine months, as we delivered our best quarterly results ever for our sponsorship business. With over 1,000 sponsors across our onsite and online platforms, Live Nation is the global leader in music sponsorship, providing brands with opportunities to reach our core millennial audience."Onsite sponsorship continues to be a key growth driver, and for the nine months our festival sponsorship revenue is up 20%, while our sponsorship per fan is up 8% as we continue to find innovative ways at scale to connect brands with over 8 million fans attending 95 festivals worldwide," Rapino said.via Celebrity Access