LIVE NATION POSTS BEST Q2 EVER

Live Nation had its largest second quarter ever and President/CEO Michael Rapino has a ledger’s worth of stats that he shared with investors and analysts Thursday afternoon.

In the second quarter, 27m people attended 10,000 shows, up 7% and 9%, from 2018. Revenue was up 10% for the quarter to $3.2b while Ticketmaster’s operating income rose 31%, AOI was up 20% and revenue spiked 6% for the quarter. Concert revenue for the quarter was up 11% to $2.64b.

Through mid-July, ticket sales are up 6% to more than 73m sold while global ticket revenue from Live Nation concerts is up 16% to $3.96b; festival tickets are up double digits where they expect to have 10m attendees. International has been key to Live Nation’s growth this year, Rapino said in delivering financial results for the quarter and the first half of 2019.

“Each of our businesses is contributing to this success, starting with concerts as we put on more shows for more fans, then continuing to monetize fans at the concert, sell more tickets to events of all types, and further deliver value to our sponsors from our platform of nearly 100 million fans,” Rapino said.

Live Nation presented 12,455 shows in North America alone through 6/30. They expect Q3 growth to be in the single digits.

On Wednesday, the company announced it will acquire a controlling interest in OCESA Entretenimiento, a leading promoter in Latin America that promotes more than 3,100 events across Mexico and Colombia, and owns of Ticketmaster Mexico. LN also acquired an interest in OcesaSeitrack, the company’s booking and artist management joint venture; plus its special event operation and Centro Citibanamex, an exhibition and convention center in Mexico City.

"There's a big fragmented global business out there and this happens to be a Top 5 [market]," Rapino said. "It helps us in sponsorships, ticketing and global touring and lays a foundation for Latin America. It checks all the boxes on all our economic drivers."

Back in the States, Rapino said the company is looking at growth opportunities in New York as well as Singapore and Tokyo.