Live Nation Entertainment Beats Revenue Expectations

“Our concert ticket sales for all events this year are up 26 percent,” says CEO Michael Rapino.

Live Nation Entertainment on Tuesday reported first-quarter revenue that increased more than 6 percent to $924 million, beating the expectations of analysts by about $3.5 million.

The giant concert promoter and ticket seller recorded a net loss of $63 million compared with a loss of $69 million in the same quarter last year.

Live Nation said it hosted 4,880 events, up almost 2 percent from the same quarter last year, and attendance rose 12 percent to 8.1 million.

The quarterly results are the first since Greg Maffei replaced Irving Azoff — manager of The Eagles, Christina Aguilera and other music acts — as chairman. Maffei is CEO of Liberty Media, which is Live Nation’s largest shareholder.

“Our concert ticket sales for all events this year are up 26 percent, and Ticketmaster ticket counts for events in 2013 are up 8 percent relative to this point last year,” said CEO Michael Rapino.

In the most recent quarter, though, Live Nation said the “gross value of tickets sold” was $2.18 billion, down from $2.22 billion during the same frame a year ago.

Shares of Live Nation rose 2 percent Tuesday to $13.23 and did not trade after the closing bell.

Source: Hollywood Reporter