CTS Eventim Posts Record Revenue, But Earnings Slide Causes Stock to Fall Nearly 17%

CTS Eventim’s earnings slipped in the first half of the year from “intense and persistent cost pressures” and the costs of integrating France Billet and See Tickets and its U-Live companies, the company announced Thursday (Aug. 21).

Mid-year consolidated revenue was up 7.6% to a record 1.29 billion euros ($1.41 billion), but adjusted EBITDA fell 0.8% to 200.5 million euros ($219 million). Live entertainment’s adjusted EBITDA was down 26.1% and the division’s adjusted EBITDA margin dropped to 3.8% from 5.3% in the prior-year period.

Reaction on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange was swift: CTS Eventim’s share price was down 17.2% at the beginning of trading on Thursday and closed at 82.55 euros ($95.88), a 16.9% decline. 

Europe’s largest concert promoter and ticketing company, CTS Eventim acquired See Tickets and a festival business from Vivendi in June 2024 for $327 million. It became a majority stakeholder in France Billet in December.

While second quarter consolidated revenue rose 0.3% to 795.6 million euros ($902 million), and ticketing revenue jumped 15.4% to 202.1 million euros ($229 million), the live entertainment division slipped 4.5% to 602.5 million euros ($683 million). Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) fell 8.9% to 100.2 million euros ($114 million), driven by a 39.7% decline in live entertainment’s adjusted EBITDA.

CTS Eventim’s live entertainment business includes 34 tour operators in 15 countries and owns such festivals as Rock am Ring and venues such as the Waldbühne in Berlin, the Eventim Apollo in London, the K.B. Halls in Copenhagen and the LANXESS arena in Cologne. Its vast ticketing business is strongest in its home country of Germany and has operations throughout Europe, South America and the U.S.

The executive board maintained its 2025 guidance — a “moderate” increase in adjusted EBITDA — but noted that “the challenging macroeconomic picture constitutes a source of uncertainty.” While the costs of integrating France Billet and See Tickets were a drag on first-half earnings, CTS Eventim expects “considerable synergy effects” will produce “an additional boost to profit margins.”