Concert giant Live Nation has posted another quarter of strong financial results with revenue of $1.5 billion, an improvement of 19% over last year. However, the company still failed to achieve profitability and reported a net loss of $41.028 million for the quarter, as well as an operating loss of $6 million.
According to Live Nation’s 10-Q filing on Thursday, revenue for their concerts segment increased by 20% over Q1 last year on the strength of more than 50 million tickets sold for 2018 shows, up by 5% through April.
“Looking towards the full year, through April, we have booked nearly 5,000 arena, stadium, and amphitheater shows, up 21% over this point last year. This growth is led by our amphitheaters, with show count up 27% to over 2,000 shows — growth that we will now further monetize through on-site fan spending,” Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino said in an investor summary.
As well, the company touted its booming business in Latin America, where Live Nation reported that ticket sales have tripled when measured against the same period in 2017.
“With our global concerts business looking strong again this year, the concerts segment continues to be the engine that powers the Live Nation flywheel strategy, growing the profitability of the concerts business while also driving our sponsorship and ticketing businesses,” Rapino said.
Live Nation’s Ticketmaster division also posted a boffo quarter, with revenue up by %19 percent, operating income by 19% and AOI by 17% for the quarter, driven by record sales of almost 60 million tickets with a global gross transaction value of $5 billion.
Live Nation’s sponsorship unit also posted rosy Q1 data, revenue up 17%, operating income up 18% and AOI up 17% for the quarter. Live Nation attributed the division’s results to strength in its festival operations and deals with strategic sponsors, including Frito Lay, Proctor & Gamble and Twitter.
“2018 is on track to deliver double-digit operating income and AOI growth along with expected strong gains in revenue, operating cash flow, and free cash flow. Our key leading indicators for our concerts, sponsorship & advertising and ticketing segments are ahead of last year, and we currently expect each of our businesses to deliver record revenue, operating income, and AOI this year,” Rapino added.