LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) — On Wednesday, Live Nation revealed the financial results for the 4th fiscal quarter of 2021 along with their full year, showing a return of live shows as the company recovers from COVID-19.
For Q4, Live Nation recorded $2.04 billion in revenue, up sharply from the 4th quarter of 2020 when, on the back of an extended industry shutdown, Live Nation recorded just $178.4 million.
During the quarter, Live Nation swung from an adjusted operating income loss of $244.3 million in the last quarter 2020 to $160.3 million in the black for Q4 2020.
However, Live Nation’s concert business continued to weigh on results, generating an AOI shortfall of $122.3 million in Q4, which improved on the $166.7 million loss the division recorded during Q4 2020.
“Restarting our concerts business in the second half of the year, we put on over 17 thousand concerts for 35 million fans in 2021, mainly in our U.S. and U.K. markets. In the final five months of the year, in the U.S. and U.K., we had over 15 million fans attend our outdoor events – festivals, stadiums, and amphitheaters – nearly 25% higher than during the same period in 2019,” Live Nation President & CEO Michael Rapino said in a press statement about the company’s financial results.
“Through the ramp up, we saw demand driven price increases, particularly with platinum and other front of the house ticket pricing. Fans continue to seek the best tickets, and the ongoing rapid growth of the secondary market indicates there’s more room to grow,” Rapino added.
Ticketing swung from a loss to a profit in Q4 and after writing down $73.7 million in the red for Q4 2020, the division added 212.1 million in the black for the same period in 2021.
Live Nation’s sponsorship and advertising business rebounded in Q4 as well, adding $170.3 in revenue and $114.5 million in AOI during the quarter up from $47.1 million and $14.2 million respectively, in Q4 2020.
“And as shows came back, so did the desire of brands to connect to our fans. As a result, sponsorship and advertising operating income and AOI was roughly the same for the second half of 2021 as it was in 2019, which was a record level. This interest came from a mix of expanding long-term relationships with brands like Bacardi, Heineken and O2, as well as adding new brand partners including Coinbase, Hulu and Cinch,” Rapino said.
For the full year, Live Nation reported overall revenues of $6.268 billion, including $4.722 billion from concerts, $1.134 billion from ticketing, and $411.9 million from sponsorships and advertising.
The concert division pared losses from last year by 65%, notching up an AOI shortfall of $221.3 for the quarter.
Ticketing was the bright spot for Live Nation’s annual AOI, swinging from a loss of $374.6 million in 2020 to a gain of $420.5 million in 2021.
In 2021, Live Nation produced 12,004 concerts in North America, up substantially from the 5,270 shows in 2020 but still far off of the 28,407 live events Live Nation produced in 2019.
“With the strength in ticket sales, not surprisingly, we are seeing every leading indicator for 2022 up relative to 2019, reinforcing our confidence that we will have a record year in 2022 that sets us up for growth over the next several years,” Rapino said.
He went on to highlight some of the positive indicators suggesting a recovery is well underway.
“Then for concert ticket sales, through mid-February we have sold 45 million tickets for shows this year, up 45% from this point in 2019. We already have eight artists who have sold over 500 thousand tickets for their tours this year, including Bad Bunny, Dua Lipa and Billie Eilish,” Mr. Rapino said.
“And fans are coming to the shows – our most recent data over the past month indicates no-show rates at our concerts in the U.S. are back to 2019 levels, eliminating any lingering questions on the resiliency of fan demand,” he added.
