MUNICH, Germany (CelebrityAccess) — German concert and ticketing company CTS Eventim has provided one of the first tangible looks at the financial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the European concert industry and its not pretty.
In the company’s first quarter financial filings, CTS Eventim reported that revenue for the first quarter was down 34.7% percent to €184.6 million when measured against Q1 results from 2019.
EBITDA, (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization), also fell precipitously during the quarter, down by 76.3% with Eventim clearing just €13.5 million in the quarter, versus 57.1 million in 2019.
Breaking out business sectors for Eventim revealed that ticketing revenue fell by a relatively modest 24.4% for the quarter, while revenue from the company’s live entertainment business slid by 40.4% from the previous year.
According to Eventim, ticketing revenue was protected by the widespread use of ‘voucher’ systems for ticket refunds in affected markets such as Germany, Austria and Italy.
Vouchers, which are issued in place of refunds, allow ticketers to issue what is essence a coupon for an event ticket at a later date, effectively deferring losses from events canceled or postponed by COVID-19.
“We got off to a very strong start in 2020 – we grew our Live Entertainment business internationally even further by acquiring majority shareholdings in Gadget Entertainment AG and wepromote Entertainment Group Switzerland AG, by completing our takeover of a majority stake in the Barracuda Group in Austria and by entering a new joint venture with Michael Cohl, the wellknown US promoter. In March 2020, the entire live entertainment industry and its fans were hard hit by the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated measures implemented by government and local authorities,” said CTS Eventim founder & CEO Klaus-Peter Schulenberg.
“However, we actively adjusted to the new situation and responded immediately and rigorously with internal measures to minimise costs and maximise efficiency. At the same time, we are benefiting from the Group’s good cash flow situation in order to cope with this challenging situation over a longer period of time and even to emerge stronger from this phase afterwards,” Schulenberg added.
Unsurprisingly, the company also declined to provide financial guidance for upcoming quarters, noting that the current uncertainties about COVID-19 make it impossible to provide reliable forecasts for the remainder of 2020.
