Corporate News

DEAG continues on growth path with strong 9-month results in 2023

• 9-month revenue in 2023 of over EUR 213 million and EBITDA of around EUR 14 million
• Ticketing and Service businesses exceed expectations
• Very good fourth quarter, full-year revenue expected above EUR 300 million in 2023
• Strong pre-Christmas business: more than 3 million tickets sold so far for upcoming events, further growth expected for 2024

Berlin, 30 November 2023 – DEAG Deutsche Entertainment Aktiengesellschaft (“DEAG”) records a very good operating performance in the first nine months of financial year 2023. After the catch-up effects of the coronavirus pandemic came to an end, DEAG demonstrated its operational strength across all segments and country markets in 2023. DEAG’s own formats, the successful buy & build strategy, and the outperformance in the Ticketing business with an increasing share of recurring, predictable revenue were key drivers of the positive development. Compared to the pre-corona year 2019, revenue increased by 73.3% from EUR 123.1 million to EUR 213.3 million. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) also rose significantly from EUR 8.0 million in the first nine months of 2019 to EUR 13.8 million (+72.5%) in the first nine months of the current financial year. Adjusted EBITDA (i.e. EBITDA excluding the bonus programme for 25 executives – which expires at the end of this year) amounts to EUR 15.0 million. In the Ticketing business, DEAG now sells most of its tickets for concerts and live events via the Group’s own ticketing platforms myticket.de, myticket.at, myticket.co.uk, gigantic.com and tickets.ie, is gradually expanding this segment and is well ahead of plan for the first three quarters. The fourth quarter is already  shaping up to be the strongest in terms of sales in the history of the Group's own platforms. The Service business, which complements the live entertainment value chain, also performs very well.

In the same period of the previous year, revenue totalled EUR 235.1 million and EBITDA amounted to EUR 20.3 million. In the third quarter of 2023, DEAG generated revenue of EUR 90.7 million, compared to EUR 101.7 million in the same period of the previous year, and EBITDA of EUR 8.7 million (previous year: EUR 10.2 million). While the 2022 result was still influenced by various catch-up effects, DEAG has now reached its post-pandemic level thanks to its consistent development. For the full year 2023, DEAG continues to aim for revenue of more than EUR 300 million and remains committed to its goal of high operating profitability.

DEAG organised many tours, concerts and live events in the reporting period, including the open-air and EDM (electronic dance music) events “NATURE ONE,” “MAYDAY,” “SYNDICATE” and “AIRBEAT ONE.” Other successes included tours and concerts by Kiss, Iron Maiden, Die Ärzte in Switzerland, but also Ludovico Einaudi, Donny Osmond, The Sisters of Mercy and Rod Stewart in the UK. Shortly after the end of the reporting period, DEAG also opened its new exhibition and show space “Arches London Bridge” in London (UK). The tickets for this will be sold solely via DEAG’s own ticketing platform Gigantic Tickets.

In the current fourth quarter, DEAG will be able to build on the very strong quarter of the previous year. This is characterised, among other performances, by the successful Christmas business with DEAG’s own formats and events for the whole family, such as the in-house productions “The Jungle Book” in Hanover, the children’s musical “Pinocchio” or “Urbanatix,” a crossover show of street art and world-class artistry, as well as ticket sales at a high level. The successful Christmas Garden format, which attracted around 2 million visitors in the 2022/2023 season, was expanded to a total of 21 locations across six European countries in 2023/2024. Demand for DEAG’s own productions, the Christmas Circuses in Hanover and Regensburg and the Christmas Village event in Kiel, has reached record levels. Another DEAG production is the big New Year’s Eve party “Celebrate at the Gate” at Brandenburg Gate, which will be broadcast live by ZDF.

DEAG now generates around half of its consolidated revenue from its own event formats, the tickets for which are sold mainly and, in many areas, exclusively via its own ticketing platforms. This is accompanied by a high degree of predictability in business development and a high share of recurring revenue.

DEAG will continue to play an active role in the consolidation of the live entertainment industry in Europe and drive its growth both organically and through M&As. In this context, DEAG is continuing to examine all equity financing options, including a possible stock market listing, in order to further accelerate the company’s growth.

Prof. Peter Schwenkow, CEO of DEAG: "DEAG's growth in 2023 exceeds our expectations. Without acquisitions in the current year and without significant catch-up effects as in 2022, the company has reached a new level of revenue and earnings compared to the pre-pandemic period. We are particularly pleased with the development in the Ticketing and Services businesses. DEAG is succeeding in selling an increasing share of tickets for concerts and events via its own ticketing platforms. The share of sales by third parties is also increasing. We will continue on our successful growth path, as M&A will remain a building block of our strategy. We are in advanced discussions with potential companies and will continue to establish new companies abroad.”

The full Group Quarterly Financial Statement will be published on 30 November 2023 on the company website in the “Investor Relations” section.

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 21 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.

Over 10 million tickets are sold annually for around 6,000 events for proprietary and third-party content – a continuously growing share of these is sold via the Group’s proprietary e-commerce platforms myticket.de, myticket.at, myticket.co.uk, gigantic.com and tickets.ie.

DEAG is thus excellently positioned for further growth.

Investor & Public Relations
Axel Mühlhaus, edicto GmbH
Eschersheimer Landstraße 42
60322 Frankfurt/Main
Phone: 0049 69 905505-52
e-mail: deag@edicto.de