MyTicket owner Deutsche Entertainment AG (DEAG) is confident of a strong end to the year after its third-quarter financial update revealed a big increase in sales.
Over the three months through to the end of September, DEAG posted a 126% year-on-year increase in revenue from €7.4m (£6.2m/$8.2m) to €16.7m.
Sales over the first nine months of 2021 totalled €24.1m – still €15m down on the figure at the corresponding stage of 2020. With cost of sales amounting to €15.6m in the three months until the end of September – more than three times the total posted in the third quarter of last year – gross profit was more than halved to €1.1m.
However, the sharp rise in revenue has given DEAG cause for optimism as it said that it “expects another significant increase in earnings with high visibility in the fourth quarter of 2021” after earnings before interest and deductions increased by more than 600% year-on-year to €4.3m.
DEAG attributes the recent improvement to one of its key markets – the UK – being able to hold concerts once more, including sold-out gigs from artists like Gorillaz.
Professor Peter L.H Schwenkow, chief executive of DEAG said: “DEAG and the entire live entertainment industry are finally gaining momentum again after well over a year without concerts and events.
“We look forward to offering our visitors hundreds of concerts and events in the months to come and expect to achieve a significant increase in earnings in the fourth quarter. In the meantime, the situation with the epidemic in Europe is leading to a daily reassessment of the current situation in all national markets.
“We are adequately protected against possible risks arising for us from the currently rising corona figures by extensive measures taken by the respective country Governments and our insurance coverage. Our very robust financial position and uniquely high event density for 2022 show our excellent positioning for growth in the coming year.”
In other news, UK Live, which was acquired by DEAG-owned rival promoter Kilimanjaro earlier this year, has announced that it will be adding Ipswich in the UK to its festival series, Let’s Rock.
Let’s Rock Ipswich will be part of the Festival of Suffolk and is among a series of 14 festivals under the umbrella brand across the UK and Ireland next year, running from May until September.
The Let’s Rock series of festivals last ran a full summer of events in 2019 with four new locations: Liverpool, Wales, Essex and Belfast. A scaled-down series of eight events returned this year after a hiatus in 2020.
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