DEAG has posted revenues of €52 million for the first three months of 2024 – 7% higher than the same period last year.
The German-headquartered live event company has cited a “well-filled event pipeline and very good ticket sales” for the Q1 figures. Ticket sales via the group’s ticketing platforms myticket.de, myticket.at, myticket.co.uk, gigantic.com and tickets.ie. platforms already increased by around 28% year-on-year in the first quarter.
EBITDA of €2.9m was down from €3.1m 12 months ago, which the firm says was “in line with expectations due to seasonal shifts in business within the genres and the restructuring of the executive board”. DEAG founder and CEO Peter Schwenkow handed over operational management to co-CEO Detlef Kornett at the beginning of last month.
The firm now generates around half of its consolidated revenue with its own and self-produced event formats, making it easier to plan business development and generates a high percentage of recurring revenue.
“We were successful in the first quarter and are right on target,” says DEAG Group CEO Detlef Kornett. “This gives us tailwind for the year as a whole and beyond. DEAG is growing organically and is also strengthening its market position as one of the leading live entertainment providers in Europe through targeted acquisitions.”
“We believe we are very well positioned for further growth and are continuing to expand ticketing in particular as a strong growth driver”
Highlights between January and March included the Christmas Gardens, which drew more than two million visitors at 21 locations in six European countries, as well as tours and concerts by Judas Priest and OMD, shows such as Cirque du Soleil and Disney on Ice, as well as the international literature festival lit.COLOGNE. Upcoming promotions include shows by AC/DC, Lenny Kravitz and Tream.
“Live entertainment means feeling good and getting away from it all,” adds Kornett. “This year, we will once again provide visitors with this ‘little slice of happiness’ on unforgettable evenings. We believe we are very well positioned for further growth and are continuing to expand ticketing in particular as a strong growth driver.”
DEAG has already sold 4.9 million tickets for its 2024 festivals, up 38% year-on-year, and is on track to sell over 800,000 tickets in total for festivals such as NATURE ONE, Indian Spirit, Syndicate, Belladrum Tartan Heart and Sion sous les étoiles.
It also further strengthened its market position in the spoken word & literary events segment by acquiring live promoter and producer ShowPlanr in the UK. DEAG plans to intensify its M&A activities overt the course of the year and says it is currently engaged in “promising talks with interested companies”, with a focus on ticketing and further expansion into new European markets.
For 2024, DEAG forecasts an increase in ticket sales to around 11 million, compared with more than 10 million tickets sold in the previous year, and expects an improvement in EBITDA with an equally positive sales trend.
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