Live Nation has enjoyed its best Q3 ever, as the company remains on track to deliver another year of record results.
Revenue was up 12% to $3.6 billion (£2.8bn) for the quarter, operating income was up 5% to $201 million ($154m) and AOI (adjusted operating income) was up 10% to $335m ($257m). All divisions - concerts, advertising and ticketing - delivered their strongest quarterly AOI results ever.
The promoting giant attracted almost 30 million fans to shows globally in the quarter, and has sold over 80 million tickets for concerts so far in 2017, a rise of 20% year-on-year. Q3 saw a 16% increase in attendance to 65m fans at 20,000 shows in 40 countries.
"As we approach the end of 2017, we are confident that our strong performance will deliver another year of record top line, operating income and AOI," said Live Nation president and CEO Michael Rapino. "All of our businesses - concerts, advertising and ticketing - have delivered growth for the nine months, and based on their key operating metrics, we currently expect each to deliver record revenue, operating income and AOI for the full year.
"As we look forward, we see tremendous opportunities to continue global consolidation of our concerts and ticketing businesses, and for further growth in advertising and ticketing from the concerts flywheel."
Rapino said the firm would spend more than $5bn (£3.8bn) producing concerts this year. Elsewhere, its sponsorship business continued its double-digit growth this year, with revenue up 20%, operating income up 13% and AOI up 15% for the nine months which, again, is a company record. Festival sponsorship revenue is up 20%.
Live Nation's Ticketmaster division achieved 14% growth for the nine months in global fee-bearing gross transaction value (GTV). Ticketmaster's Verified Fan scheme, meanwhile, has driven a 90% reduction in the number of tickets ending up on the secondary market. It has now over 60 artists and Broadway shows, including Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, Hamilton and Bruce Springsteen on Broadway.
"As a result, by the end of this year I expect we will deliver three million tickets to Verified Fans, saving them $100 million dollars relative to buying on secondary sites after bots got the tickets first," said Rapino.
"Overall, Ticketmaster's results are validating our dual strategy of delivering a great marketplace for fans to buy tickets while providing the greatest value to venues, teams and artists looking to control their tickets and maximise the value of their events. By continuing to do both effectively, I currently expect us to deliver high-single-digit growth in Ticketing operating income and AOI this year."
