Live Nation posts another record quarter

Live Nation Entertainment has exceeded expectations of Wall Street by reporting third-quarter earnings of US$3.2 billion.

It was another record revenue result, a 23% increase year-on-year. Analyst predictions had been for $2.81 billion.

LNE said in a statement, “Our concerts business is our flywheel, attracting 28 million fans to shows globally in the quarter, which then drove record results in our ticketing, advertising and on-site businesses.

“Our performance demonstrates how Live Nation has created an unparalleled live platform, bringing fans in 40 countries to those unrivalled two-hour events each year.”

Globally, in the three months ending September 30, the Beverly-Hills-based company sold 28 million tickets across 6,162 events of its own (an increase of 4.4%), and sold 42.5 million tickets overall, a climb of 2.7%. Its biggest gains were in North America, with international events dropping from 1,487 the same quarter in 2015 to 1,207.

In the third quarter, Live Nation said, the number of events increased 4.4%, to 6,162, with the number of tickets sold climbing 2.7%, to 42.6 million

Ticketmaster was its most successful division, generating $460.3 million and providing 480 million tickets to fans across 28 countries. It is expected to have shifted 70 million tickets by the end of the year.

Ticketmaster app installations were up 44% through 2016 to nearly 30 million. Mobile ticket sales accounted for 27% of its ticket sales after a 38% rise. In the third quarter, it added 170 new clients to its base of over 12,000, “setting us up for our seventh consecutive year of growth in ticket inventory.”

Revenue in the concerts segment jumped 25%, to $2.5 billion, up a further 14% through October.

Ticketing rose 7%, to $456.4 million. In the third quarter, with 16% more fans attending over 6000 shows and growing revenue by 25%.

LN reported, “Through September, we have grown our fan base by 16% to 56 million, on our way to what we expect to be a record-setting 70 million fans attending Live Nation concerts in 2016.”

The company has successfully focussed on increasing fan spending at concerts.

“For the first nine months we have increased average fan spending at our festivals and amphitheatres by 10% at constant currency, while growing attendance 13% at these events, thereby increasing total on-site spending by $70 million at constant currency. This high-margin spend has been a key driver of our growing concerts profitability thus far in 2016.”

Sponsorship and advertising posted an 8% climb, to $136.1 million during the period, and up a further 12% in October. The rise was attributed to the fact that LNE had a reach of 70 million fans through the year. Of these, 24 million were in the hard to reach 18-34 year-old demographic.

“From this base of live fans, we leverage our database of nearly 300 million fans to help brands more effectively target potential customers.”

The Artist Nation segment’s revenue was up 10%, to $150.8 million.

Live Nation has, over the past 18 months, bought out promoters C3 Presents (Austin City Limits, Auckland City Limits, Lollapalooza), Governor’s Ball, and Bonnaroo Festival.