Live Nation Entertainment Reports Third Quarter 2023 Results

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 2, 2023 /PRNewswire/ --

"Today we delivered our strongest quarter ever and are on pace for a record 2023, driven in good part by the acceleration of structural growth in the live entertainment industry. While we have benefitted from tailwinds for many years, it has accelerated due to the globalization of our business along with a fundamental shift in consumer spending habits toward experiences. With the majority of opportunity still untapped from Milan to Bogotá to Tokyo and beyond, we expect the industry will continue growing in 2024 and for years to come." –Michael Rapino, President and CEO, Live Nation Entertainment

3Q23 FINANCIAL OVERVIEW: Record quarter, on pace for record year
(reported FX)

• Revenue Up 32% to $8.2 billion in Q3; and Up 36% to $16.9 billion year-to-date
• Operating Income Up 22% to $619 million in Q3; and Up 35% to $1.1 billion year-to-date
• AOI Up 35% to $836 million in Q3; and Up 33% to $1.7 billion year-to-date
• Year-to-date Operating Cash Flow of $762 million
• Year-to-date Free Cash Flow — Adjusted of $1.3 billion, converting 72% of AOI
• EPS Up 28% to $1.78 in Q3; Up 50% to $2.59 year-to-date

View how these results compare to past quarters in the 3Q23 Trended Results Grid:
https://investors.livenationentertainment.com/financial-information/financial-results

OUTLOOK: Continued momentum through 2023 and into 2024
(based on leading indicators through mid-October)

2023

• Record number of fans: 140 million tickets sold year-to-date for Live Nation shows this year, up 17% year-over-year and already surpassing full year 2022 total of 121 million
• Record Ticketmaster volume expected: 257 million fee-bearing tickets sold year-to-date, up 22% year-over-year; on track to manage over 600 million tickets this year, including well over 300 million fee-bearing tickets
• Record Sponsorship results expected: On pace for double-digit AOI growth this year
• Strong Projected Free Cash Flow — Adjusted: Percentage conversion for the full-year is now projected to be in the mid-60s

2024

• Strong concert calendar: Event-related deferred revenue up 39% to $2.6 billion (vs 3Q22), reflecting continued momentum into 2024
• Growing touring pipeline: Roughly half of expected show count booked for large venues, up double-digits
• Continued strong sponsorship growth: Two-thirds of expected commitments already booked, up double-digits

LIVE NATION CONCERTS:

• Record quarter for Concerts (vs 3Q22):
  • Revenue up 32% to $7 billion
  • AOI up 21% to $341 million
  • Margins up year-to-date with significant full-year margin expansion expected relative to 2022
• Record attendance fueled by strength across all markets, venues and price points (year-to-date vs same period 2022):
  • Overall fan growth of 21% with International markets up 34% and North America up 13%

VENUE NATION:

• Venue Nation continues expanding fan hospitality (year-to-date vs same period 2022):
  • Ancillary per fan revenue continues to grow at operated venues:
    • Amphitheaters: up 10% to over $40 year-to-date
    • Theaters and clubs: up double-digits globally
  • Growth in on-site spending drove per-fan profitability at operated venues up double-digits, well outpacing cost inflation
  • 55 million fans expected at our operated venues in 2023, up double-digits from 49 million fans in 2022

TICKETMASTER: 

• Global fan demand and client wins drive record ticketing results (vs 3Q22):
  • Revenue up 57% to $833 million
  • AOI up 94% to $316 million
  • 17 million net new client tickets added year-to-date, with half coming from International markets
  • Full-year margins expected to remain in the high 30s
• High demand for concert tickets drives record fee-bearing global transaction value (vs 3Q22):
  • Total fee-bearing GTV up 36% to $10 billion with North America up 32% and International markets up 49%; 90% of the growth driven by global concert ticket sales

LIVE NATION SPONSORSHIP:

• Sponsorship performance driven by global platforms (vs 3Q22)
  • Revenue up 7% to $367 million
  • AOI up 11% to $250 million
  • Full-year margins expected to remain in the low 60s
• 2023 planned sponsorship fully committed, at over $1 billion in revenue
  • New large multi-year deal with Mastercard driven by our international concerts platform

ADDITIONAL FINANCIAL INFORMATION:

• • 2023 capital expenditures forecast is $450 million with two-thirds on revenue-generating projects. Year-to-date capital expenditures of $258 million is primarily in concerts, driven by on-site venue enhancements and the expansion of our venue portfolio
  • Below-the-line impact to 2023 EPS: annual accretion is expected to be approximately 60% higher than 2022, primarily driven by OCESA performance
  • Foreign exchange rates not expected to materially impact 2023 revenue, operating income or AOI
  • For the first nine months of 2023, our fully diluted share count was 235 million, down from 239 million in 2022 for the same period
• Balance sheet and liquidity remain strong:
  • Approximately 87% of debt is at a fixed rate, with an weighted-average cost of debt of 4.8%
  • Year-to-date interest income of $175 million is up $128 million from the same period last year, rising significantly faster than interest expense

The company will webcast a teleconference today at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time to discuss its financial performance, operational matters and potentially other material developments. Interested parties should visit the "News / Events" section of the company's website at investors.livenationentertainment.com to listen to the webcast. Supplemental statistical and financial information to be provided on the call, if any, will be posted to the "Financial Info" section of the website. A replay of the webcast will also be available on the Live Nation website. The link to the 3Q23 Trended Results Grid is provided above for convenience and such grid is not a part of, or incorporated into, this press release or any SEC filings that include this press release.

Notice Regarding Financial Statements

The company has provided certain financial statements at the end of this press release for reference.  These financial statements should be read in conjunction with the full financial statements, and the notes thereto, set forth in the company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission today and available on the SEC's website at sec.gov.

About Live Nation Entertainment: 

Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: LYV) is the world's leading live entertainment company comprised of global market leaders: Ticketmaster, Live Nation Concerts, and Live Nation Media & Sponsorship. For additional information, visit investors.livenationentertainment.com.

 _________

Forward-Looking Statements, Non-GAAP Financial Measures and Reconciliations: 

Certain statements in this press release, including the Supplemental Information that follows, constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to statements regarding the company's pacing for a record 2023, with expectations that the industry will continue growing in 2024 and for years to come; expectations for record Ticketmaster volume in 2023; the company's momentum for 2024, including the strength of the company's concert calendar based on event-related deferred revenue, growth in the touring pipeline with roughly half of expected show count booked for large venues, and continued strong sponsorship growth with two-third of expected commitments already booked; current pacing and expectations for double-digit adjusted operating income growth in 2023 for the company's sponsorship and advertising segment; current full-year 2023 margin expectations for the company's concerts, ticketing, and sponsorship and advertising businesses; current expectations for fan attendance at the company's operated venues in 2023; current expectations for 2023 capital expenditures, including revenue-generating projects; anticipated increase to earnings per share accretion for 2023, driven primarily by OCESA performance; expectations that foreign exchange rates will not materially impact 2023 revenue, operating income, or adjusted operating income; and strong projected free cash flow—adjusted conversion for the full year in 2023.

Live Nation wishes to caution you that there are some known and unknown factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to operational challenges in achieving strategic objectives and executing on the company's plans, the risk that the company's markets do not evolve as anticipated, the potential impact of any economic slowdown and operational challenges associated with selling tickets and staging events.

Live Nation refers you to the documents it files from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, specifically the section titled "Item 1A. Risk Factors" of the company's most recent Annual Report filed on Form 10-K, and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and its Current Reports on Form 8-K, which contain and identify other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the company's projections or forward-looking statements. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements which speak only as of the date on which they are made. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements by or concerning Live Nation are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements above. Live Nation does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements because of new information, future events or otherwise.

This press release contains certain non-GAAP financial measures as defined by SEC Regulation G. A reconciliation of each such measure to its most directly comparable GAAP financial measure, together with an explanation of why management believes that these non-GAAP financial measures provide useful information to investors, is provided herein.

Adjusted Operating Income (Loss), or AOI, is a non-GAAP financial measure that we define as operating income (loss) before certain stock-based compensation expense, loss (gain) on disposal of operating assets, depreciation and amortization (including goodwill impairment), amortization of non-recoupable ticketing contract advances and acquisition expenses (including transaction costs, changes in the fair value of accrued acquisition-related contingent consideration obligations, and acquisition-related severance and compensation). We use AOI to evaluate the performance of our operating segments. We believe that information about AOI assists investors by allowing them to evaluate changes in the operating results of our portfolio of businesses separate from non-operational factors that affect net income (loss), thus providing insights into both operations and the other factors that affect reported results. AOI is not calculated or presented in accordance with GAAP. A limitation of the use of AOI as a performance measure is that it does not reflect the periodic costs of certain amortizing assets used in generating revenue in our business. Accordingly, AOI should be considered in addition to, and not as a substitute for, operating income (loss), net income (loss), and other measures of financial performance reported in accordance with GAAP. Furthermore, this measure may vary among other companies; thus, AOI as presented herein may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies.

Constant Currency is a non-GAAP financial measure when applied to a GAAP financial measure. We calculate currency impacts as the difference between current period activity translated using the current period's currency exchange rates and the comparable prior period's currency exchange rates. We present constant currency information to provide a framework for assessing how our underlying businesses performed excluding the effect of foreign currency rate fluctuations.

Free Cash Flow — Adjusted, or FCF, is a non-GAAP financial measure that we define as net cash provided by (used in) operating activities less changes in operating assets and liabilities, less maintenance capital expenditures, less distributions to noncontrolling interest partners. We use FCF among other measures, to evaluate the ability of operations to generate cash that is available for purposes other than maintenance capital expenditures. We believe that information about FCF provides investors with an important perspective on the cash available to service debt, make acquisitions, and for revenue generating capital expenditures. FCF is not calculated or presented in accordance with GAAP. A limitation of the use of FCF as a performance measure is that it does not necessarily represent funds available for operations and is not necessarily a measure of our ability to fund our cash needs. Accordingly, FCF should be considered in addition to, and not as a substitute for, net cash provided by (used in) operating activities and other measures of financial performance reported in accordance with GAAP. Furthermore, this measure may vary among other companies; thus, FCF as presented herein may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies.

Free Cash is a non-GAAP financial measure that we define as cash and cash equivalents less ticketing-related client funds, less event-related deferred revenue, less accrued expenses due to artists and cash collected on behalf of others, plus event-related prepaids. We use free cash as a proxy for how much cash we have available to, among other things, optionally repay debt balances, make acquisitions and fund revenue generating capital expenditures. Free cash is not calculated or presented in accordance with GAAP. A limitation of the use of free cash as a performance measure is that it does not necessarily represent funds available from operations and it is not necessarily a measure of our ability to fund our cash needs. Accordingly, free cash should be considered in addition to, and not as a substitute for, cash and cash equivalents and other measures of financial performance reported in accordance with GAAP. Furthermore, this measure may vary among other companies; thus, free cash as presented herein may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies.

SOURCE Live Nation Entertainment