Live Nation Posts Double Digit Growth As Losses Narrow
Live Nation reported narrowing quarterly losses yesterday along with a double digit gain in revenue. And while it is disconcerting to see the biggest player in live music in the U.S. and globally continue to lose money, double digit gains in concert revenue bode well for the broader music industry.
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Live Nation Entertainment reported strong revenue increases, but was still in the red for the first fiscal quarter of 2016.
On Tuesday, the promoter reported that revenue for the quarter was up by 10% for the quarter in constant currency, generating $1.2 Billion in the first three months of the year, but reported an operating loss for the period of $33 million. According to the company's financial statement, the revenue growth was driven by strong concert ticket sales, which they reported as up by 10% through April, and strong advertising and sponsorship revenue, which improved by 11% for the quarter.
As well, Ticketmaster saw a strong quarter, up by 18% at constant currency values for the quarter.
"Live Nation has continued growing its business in 2016, with first quarter revenue up 10% and AOI up 7% on a constant currency basis, with strong operating performance across the three divisions – concerts, advertising and ticketing. More importantly, at four months into the year we have enough information from leading indicators to be confident that we are on track to deliver record top line and bottom line results in 2016 as we continue building global market share in all our businesses," Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino said.
The company also reported that their digital initiatives are bearing fruit, noting that smart phone apps are an increasingly important point of sale for tickets. According to the company, mobile ticket sales are up by 30% over last year and not account for 25% of the company's overall ticket sales.
Live Nation's artist management unit Artist Nation continued to weigh on results, posting a $17.1 million loss for the quarter, up from 16.1 million from the same period in 2015.
"2016 is on track to be another year of growth and record results for the company. All of the leading indicators for our concerts, sponsorship and ticketing businesses are performing ahead of last year and we expect each of the businesses to deliver revenue, AOI and free cash flow growth this year," Rapino added.
via Celebrity Access
