LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — Live Nation has released their third quarter (Q3) results for the three month period ending September 30th, reporting lower profits and missing the mark of most analysts. The reporting period encompassed a three month period ending on Sept. 30th, a span that included the lion's share of the key summer touring season.
During the reporting period, net income fell to $51.4 million or $0.30 per share from $69.25 million or $0.78 per share last year. Analysts surveyed by Thompson-Reuters had been, on average, expecting earnings of $0.36 cents per share.
Revenue was up slightly, $1.84 billion from $1.79 billion in the same quarter in 2009, but the 2009 figure does not include Ticketmaster's revenue. When Ticketmaster's revenue is added, Live Nation's combined Q3 revenue was down by 14% from $2.14 billion. Live Nation merged with Ticketmaster in January.
The financial statement also provided some insight into concert attendance figures. The total number of concerts Live Nation staged during Q3 was 4,907, up from 4,775 during the same period in Q3 2009. Total estimated attendance however, was down by nearly 16% at 16,447,000 from 19,534,000 last year. Ancillary revenue was down slightly on the domestic front to $17.53 per attendee, from $17.67 in 2009.
Ticketing took a hit as well, with the company selling 86,015,000 tickets in Q3 2010 as opposed to 95,385,000 during the same period in 2009, a decrease of 9.8%.
However, there were a few bright spots for Live Nation; Online advertising revenue rose to $10.7 million from $9.7 million in 2009 and the average number of unique visitors to Live Nation's websites increased by 8.9%.
"Looking ahead, the artist pipeline for 2011 appears solid and we are taking a more profit-driven and measured approach to securing and pricing our shows given the uncertain economy. We are also taking additional steps to reduce our operating costs and further improve efficiencies across our operations as we move toward 2011. As we execute our strategy, we remain confident in our ability to maximize the value of our end-to-end platform and improve the performance of our business." said Live Nation President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Rapino.
"Clearly the adverse economic environment has negatively impacted our concert business during the 2010 year so far, and has had a similar impact on our ticketing and artist businesses as well," said Irving Azoff, Executive Chairman of Live Nation Entertainment. "We continue to grow our Artist Nation business with new signings and acquisitions. While our roster of superstar clients and tour schedules for 2011 remains strong, we need some improvement in the overall economic environment in order to optimize profits going forward." – Ian Courtney
