Live Nation’s Q1 revenue jumps to $1.41b, boosts shares

Live Nation Entertainment shares rose from $32.80 to $34.55 on the New York Stock Exchange at closing on Friday – after hitting a high of $35.13 – after it posted better than expected revenue for the first quarter.

In the three months to March 31, 2017, revenue rose 17% to US$1.41 billion. The market had only forecast $1.27 billion.

Live Nation – the music industry’s largest company – also reported it sold 46 million concert tickets through April, a growth of 25%.

Its concert revenue grew 14% from $754.9 million to $863.3 million with adjusted operational income from the quarter coming in at $22 million.

Overall, the concert, ticketing, promotions and advertising business divisions saw its operating income improve 36% to $21 million with adjusted operating Income rising 25% to $92 million.

Sponsorship and advertising were up 11% from $57.6 million to $64 million with adjusted operational income from the quarter coming in at $33.2 million.

In a post-report conference call, President and CEO Michael Rapino indicated he is expecting the next 12 months to be also strong.

“This year we have booked more shows, sold more tickets and have more sponsorship commitments than ever before at this point of the year.

“With the strength of these leading indicators, I am confident we will once again deliver record topline, operating income and AOI performance in each of our businesses in 2017.

“The global concert industry is structurally growing, with strong tailwinds for both supply and demand.

“On the supply side, artists are touring now more than ever as live as their primary source of income.

“And on the demand side, between the millennial shifting of spend to experiences and the globalization of artists on social media, we see continued long-term growth as fans attending more concerts.

“And as of May 1, we are seeing this trend in our results, as we have booked over 4,000 arenas, stadium and amphitheater shows for 2017, up 10% over last year.

“This growth has led to arena and stadium shows up 18% and 32% respectively. And as a result, tickets sold through April for our concerts this year are up 25% to 46 million tickets.”

Ticketmaster had its best quarter in history for gross transaction value (GTV) and ticket volume on a transacted basis. Ticketing saw the largest growth of all the verticals at 22% rising to $493.7 million to $405.8 million with adjusted operational income from the quarter coming in at $103.1 million. Live Nation cited its fee-bearing primary and secondary businesses, which grew GTV by 18% and 20%, respectively.

As the northern summer concert and festival season approaches, the company also offered 1 million tickets to hundreds of in every American state and Canadian province for $20 a head. The campaign runs between May 2 to May 9 and targeting younger fans who there for the experience without necessarily expecting the best seats in the house..

The shows included those by OneRepublic, John Mayer, Future, Goo Goo Dolls, Adam Lambert, Nickelback, Matchbox Twenty, Sam Hunt and the Zac Brown Band.