Live Nation is on its way to a record breaking year, but a strong earnings report was tarnished by growing losses at Artist Nation, the company’s artist management division which handles the careers of more than 350 artists.
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Live Nation Entertainment reported record financial results for their third quarter and says they are well on the way for a similar record-breaking year.
Revenue Up 21%
The company on Monday reported that for the third quarter, revenue was up 21%, operating income was up 25%, AOI was up 14%, and free cash flow was up 21%, with their core divisions – concerts, ticketing and advertising – each delivered their strongest quarterly operating income and AOI results ever.
Describing their concert business as the company’s ‘flywheel’ Live Nation reported that more than 28 million fans attended concerts in the third quarter, up 16% from last year, bolstering revenue by 25%, operating income by 94%, and AOI for the division by 39% year-on-year.
The company also reported a 13% increase in festival and amphitheater attendance for the quarter, as well as an increase of 10% in spending on-site at these events and venues. Ticket prices were up as well for the quarter, by 7% on average the company said, allowing to increase what they pay artists by $450 million on shows this year.
Live Nation’s Ticketmaster unit reported a 12% increase in ticketing revenue through the third quarter, a 13% increase in operating income, and a 9% increase in AOI. The company attributes the growth in the division to its market dominance and their investment in technology, with mobile ticket sales now accounting for 27% of all ticket purchases.
As well the company reported that Ticketmaster added 170 clients for the quarter.
The company reported similar improvements in their sponsorship and advertising business, with an 8% increase in revenue, a 3% increase in operating income and a 5% increase in AOI for the quarter, driven largely by the company’s concert results.
Losses At Artist Nation Mount
Live Nation’s artist management unit Artist Nation continued to weigh on results, and while reporting a 10% bump in revenue for the quarter, operating income slid by $6 million to a loss of $8.2 million for the quarter, with AOI down by 11% for the third quarter.
Artist Nation is a consortium of more that 70 managers guiding the careers of 350+ artists. Divisions include Roc Nation Management, 24 Artist Management, G-Major Management, Gellman, C3, Mick Artists Management, Vector, Plan B Management, Quest Management, Principle Management and Quietus Management.
“We now have good visibility into our full year 2016 performance and are confident we will deliver another year of record revenue, AOI and free cash flow. We continue to rapidly grow our concert fan base, which is demonstrating the effectiveness of our flywheel, driving anticipated double-digit growth in sponsorship AOI and ticketing GTV. As we look forward, we see tremendous opportunities to continue global consolidation of our concerts and ticketing businesses, with further growth in advertising and ticketing from the concerts flywheel,” Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino said in a press statement announcing their results.
via Celebrity Access