Corporate News

DEAG off to a very good start to financial year 2023 and continues to grow profitably

• Revenue in the first quarter up 55% to EUR 48 million / EBITDA of EUR 3.1 million
• Ticket sales remain at a very high level
• Further intensification of M&A activities in the second half of 2023

Berlin, 26 May 2023 – DEAG Deutsche Entertainment Aktiengesellschaft (“DEAG”) has gotten off to a very successful start to financial year 2023, with excellent prospects for the year as a whole. In the first three months, revenues increased by 55% to EUR 48 million, compared to EUR 31 million in the same period of the previous year and EUR 25.5 million in the pre-corona year 2019. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) amounted to EUR 3.1 million. This means almost a doubling of the operating profitability, as the previous year’s figure of EUR 2.8 million still included significant funds from subsidy programmes. EBITDA thus also developed very positively compared to Q1 of the pre-crisis year 2019 and more than tripled from EUR 1.0 million. The expansion of DEAG’s event formats and a diversified event pipeline, as well as a strong ticketing business, in particular, contributed to the good financial figures. In addition, the companies acquired by DEAG since 2019 also contributed to its positive development.

DEAG staged many concerts and events in the reporting period, including the world’s most successful dance show “Riverdance,” “Disney on Ice,” and sold-out concerts with Ed Sheeran and Limp Bizkit. Other major successes included the “Christmas Gardens,” which drew a total of 2 million visitors at 19 locations, and in the Spoken Word & Literary Events division the international literature festival “lit.COLOGNE,” which continued the successes of the pre-corona period by drawing 105,000 visitors. DEAG also increased its ticket sales significantly. The company had sold 4 million tickets for events after the end of the reporting period by the end of March 2023. A high percentage of the tickets are now sold via the Group’s own ticketing platforms myticket.de, myticket.at, myticket.co.uk, gigantic.com and tickets.ie. 50,000 tickets were sold for the European tour of Rammstein singer Till Lindemann in the winter of 2023 exclusively via myticket for Germany within the first 48 hours of the advance sales launch alone. DEAG has also seen strong demand for tickets for concerts in the new Hip Hop and Rap music segment. 25,000 tickets have already been sold exclusively via myticket for concerts by Samra, Tream ans Jazeek, among others. In 2023 as a whole, DEAG is looking to sell a total of more than 10 million tickets for around 6,000 events. This represents another double-digit percentage increase compared to the record year 2022.

DEAG’s event pipeline is quite full. In the coming months, the company will be hosting concerts by Iron Maiden, Kiss, the Scorpions, Rod Stewart, The Who and Sam Fender, among other performers. In addition, visitors can expect another strong festival summer in 2023, with open-air festivals in the genres of EDM (Electronic Dance Music), Rock/Pop and Classics & Jazz, for which over 500,000 tickets have already been sold.

DEAG’s growth strategy continues to include the implementation of further acquisitions, several of which are currently in the pipeline. DEAG plans to intensify its M&A activities even further in the second half of 2023. One focus will be on the area of ticketing and expansion into new European markets. Due to its good operating performance and very solid financial basis, DEAG has already been able to arrange attractive financial terms for financing further business expansion in recent months.  In addition, DEAG is considering the issue of a new corporate bond to drive its growth and refinance its 2018/2023 bond. The company will publish further information on this shortly.

“We are very pleased with the start to 2023. Growth of more than 50% is above our plan and indicates that we are on track for a strong financial year 2023. After the first quarter, we see ourselves on the way to achieving our annual targets of more than EUR 300 million in revenue with a further improvement in EBITDA. We have again seen demand for tickets at an extremely high level in the first three months. We intend to continue developing our ticketing platforms and expand into new markets. We are in advanced discussions with potential companies and are confident that we will soon be able to announce further partners to the DEAG family. Together, we will grow, expand our event formats and bring enjoyment to visitors beyond their everyday lives,” commented Professor Peter L.H. Schwenkow, CEO of DEAG.

The Quarterly Financial Statement as of 31 March 2023 will be available for download on the company’s website in the Investor Relations section as of 31 May 2023.

About DEAG

DEAG Deutsche Entertainment Aktiengesellschaft (DEAG), a leading entertainment service company and live entertainment provider, produces and promotes live events of all genres and sizes in Europe. With its group companies, DEAG has been present at 20 locations in its core markets of Germany, Great Britain, Switzerland, Ireland and Denmark. As a live entertainment service provider with an integrated business model, DEAG has extensive expertise in the conception, organisation, promotion and production of events.

Founded in Berlin in 1978, DEAG's core business areas today include Rock/Pop, Classics & Jazz, Family Entertainment, Spoken Word & Literary Events, Arts+Exhibitions and Ticketing. Live Entertainment for all generations including Arts+Exhibitions are important building blocks for the further development of DEAG's own content.

For around 6,000 events, over 10 million tickets are sold annually for own and third-party content - a continuously growing share of these is sold via the group's own e-commerce platforms myticket.de, myticket.at, myticket.co.uk, gigantic.com and tickets.ie.

With its strong partner network, DEAG is excellently positioned in the market.

Investor & Public Relations
Axel Mühlhaus, edicto GmbH
Eschersheimer Landstraße 42
60322 Frankfurt am Main
Germany
Phone: +49 69 905505-52
Email: deag@edicto.de