Increased concert attendance drove record third quarter revenue at Live Nation. The company turned in revenue of $2.26 billion in the quarter, up 15% from the prior-year quarter.
Adjusted operating income (AOI), a metric that excludes certain one-time items, rose 9% to $221.2 million. Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino called the third quarter “the best quarter in the company’s history,” and the three quarters of 2013 “the best nine months for revenue and AOI for the company.” The bottom line didn’t improve, however. Net income was $43.8 million, down from $57.9 million a year earlier. Net income was dragged down by a $36.2 million loss on debt extinguishment.
Analysts expected revenue of $2.09 billion and earnings per share (EPS) of 14 cents, according to Bloomberg. In the quarter, Live Nation’s EPS was 22 cents. Shares of Live Nation were down 2.6% in after-hours trading following the earnings release. They finished the day down 1.1% to $19.40, just off the 52-week high of $19.79 set Thursday. To the extent Live Nation is a bellwether, the concert business appears to be in fine shape.
Consumers are reacting positively to festivals and growth genres — namely EDM and country — and continue to spend on concerts in spite of low youth employment and stagnant wages. The concert business started to emphasize value after the dismal summer of 2010. Live Nation’s most recent quarter suggests music fans have responded positively.
In the concert division, revenue grew 21% to $1.73 billion and AOI grew 44% to $70.7 million. Concert attendance rose 26.7% to 21.2 million from 16.7 million in the third quarter of 2012. North American concert attendance rose 27.4% to 14.8 million. International concert was up 25% to 6.4 million.
Concert revenue accounted for 76.3% of revenue in the quarter and 32% of AOI. Live Nation’s 61 festivals attracted more than four million attendees in the first nine months of the year. The company expects to end the year with 69 festivals — 25 of them new — and 20% attendance growth. EDM will account for 18 festivals this year, up from 10 last year, and about 1.25 million festival attendees.
In the ticketing division, revenue grew 3% to $356.8 million and AOI declined 2% to $80.3 million. Driven by an increase in tickets sold to sports events the number of tickets sold increased 4.2% to 37.6 million. Sponsorship and advertising grew revenue 15% to $110.2 million while contributing AOI of $83.3 million, a 12% year-over-year increase. The two divisions are vital to Live Nation’s bottom line. Ticketing and sponsorship & advertising accounted for 20.6% of revenue but 74% of AOI.
For the full year, Live Nation expects to deliver high single-digit growth in both revenue and AOI. It believes its concert division’s AOI will double from 2012. The high-margin sponsorships and advertising division is expected to have low double-digital growth this year. Ticketmaster is expected to deliver AOI on par with 2012′s AOI.
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