MUNICH, DE (CelebrityAccess) – CTS Eventim (CTS), a leading international provider of ticketing services and live entertainment, made a solid start to 2023, generating substantial growth in revenue and earnings. In the first three months of 2023, consolidated revenue came to EUR 366.2 million, compared with EUR 139.2 million in the first quarter of 2022 and EUR 282.7 million in the first quarter of 2019 (the last year before the pandemic).
The Group’s normalized earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounted to EUR 76.0 million in the first quarter of 2023, following EUR 23.7 million in the same period of the previous year and EUR 57.1 million in the first quarter of 2019. Both the Ticketing and the Live Entertainment segments contributed to this growth. As a result, the normalized EBITDA margin was 21% (the previous year: 17%).
“In the first quarter of 2023, CTS has maintained its successful trajectory following the record year of 2022,” commented Klaus-Peter Schulenberg, CEO of CTS Eventim. “The results show that live entertainment remains as popular as ever. Our customers have high expectations when buying tickets – especially for tours featuring top acts – and we have comfortably met these expectations. We are pursuing organic growth in Germany and internationally and anticipate that our business performance will continue successfully.”
The Ticketing segment generated revenue of EUR 148.3 million in the first three months of 2023 (previous year: EUR 76.5 million), 42% higher than in the first quarter of 2019 (EUR 104.5 million). Normalized EBITDA stood at EUR 67.8 million in the first quarter of 2023 (previous year: EUR 27.2 million), a rise of 62% in the first quarter of 2019 (EUR 41.9 million). The core market of Germany performed well, with the Italian, Austrian, Swiss and Brazilian markets also driving growth.
The Live Entertainment segment’s revenue climbed to EUR 223.8 million in the first quarter of 2023 (previous year: EUR 65.1 million), a rise of 23% compared with the figure from four years ago (EUR 182.2 million). However, normalized EBITDA for the first three months of 2023 came to EUR 8.2 million (previous year: loss of EUR 3.5 million) and was thus lower than in the first quarter of 2019 (EUR 15.2 million). In addition, higher preparatory and implementation costs for festivals weighed heavily on normalized EBITDA in the first quarter of 2023.
The number of tickets sold online in the year to date stands at 18 million, which equates to a significant increase of 58% compared with the prior-year period (eleven million).
In March 2023, a joint venture with Mammoth, Inc. and AG Entertainment Touring was announced to enable CTS to further cement its position in the international touring market and sign up top acts for future US and global tours.
The quarterly statement on business performance in the first three months of 2023 will be available at www.eventim.de on May 24.
