DEAG on target with good overall business development

2016-11-30 12:47:16
DGAP-News: DEAG on target with good overall business development

DGAP-News: DEAG Deutsche Entertainment Aktiengesellschaft / Key word(s): 9-month figures

2016-11-30 / 12:47
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

DEAG on target with good overall business development

– First nine months of the current financial year significantly above last year

– Fourth quarter to be the best quarter in the last five years

– Positive profit forecast for financial year 2016

– MyTicket already established and active in three European markets in its second financial year

– Live Entertainment with a very good overall outlook and disproportionately strong organic earnings growth in the UK

– Non-recurring expenses from currency translation, establishment of the Austrian business and legal consulting fees

Berlin, November 30, 2016 – According to its figures for the first nine months of 2016, the company listed on the Prime Standard DEAG Deutsche Entertainment AG (DEAG), Berlin, (ISIN: DE000A0Z23G6, WKN: A0Z23G), is significantly above the previous year and will end the current financial year with a positive result following the prior year’s negative result. Despite one-off charges, DEAG will once again take up the profitable business development of previous years in 2016.

MyTicket, DEAG’s own sales company in the area of ticketing, also exceeded the expectations of the Executive Board in the third quarter. In order to establish the company and accelerate its growth, the Executive Board is pursuing an aggressive organic expansion strategy. MyTicket is already present in three important European markets with Germany, the UK and Austria. Excluding expenses incurred in September 2016 to enter the market in Austria, the company is already profitable in its second financial year. As a result of the business development to date in 2016, the Executive Board has confirmed its objective of being able to make a significant contribution to the Group’s results in 2017 through its ticketing business.

In the first nine months of 2016, Group sales amounted to EUR 98.0 million, compared with EUR 146.3 million in the previous year. The expected decline in sales resulted partly from an industry-wide shift in business in the current fourth quarter in connection with the major events of the European Soccer Championship in France and the Olympic Games in Brazil. Additionally, in the prior-year period, there was a series of particularly high-volume concerts such as Ed Sheeran’s three sold out performances at Wembley Stadium in London.

With the very strong fourth quarter, for which DEAG projects sales of between EUR 90 and 100 million, the company expects total sales for the year 2016 as a whole will be close to last year’s level. As a result of the price trend of the British pound, currency conversions negatively affected earnings in the first nine months of 2016. The result of the prior-year period benefited from a positive currency effect. On the whole, DEAG’s operating result in the first nine months of 2016 was burdened by around EUR 1.65 million from the currency effect, a one-time consulting fee in connection with two major active legal cases and the development of the Austrian business. Adjusted Group EBIT for the first nine months of 2016 amounted to EUR -5.1 million. The EBIT amounted to EUR -6.8 million and therefore was 41.6% above the previous year (EUR -11.6 million).

The fourth quarter of the current financial year will be the strongest quarter in five years in terms of sales and earnings. The company expects to sell between 500,000 and 550,000 tickets for the Christmas-related family events “Christmas at Kew,” “Christmas at Blenheim” and “Christmas Garden Berlin”, and for the Christmas markets and circuses in Kiel, Regensburg, Aachen and Hanover. Disney on Ice and Marvel Universe are also highlights in the fourth quarter beside many great tours like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Böhse Onkelz, David Garrett and others. The positive outlook is also supported by the disproportionate organic growth in the UK thanks to sold out events, inter alia at the Royal Albert Hall.

The Executive Board of DEAG expects financial year 2016 to finish with a clearly positive adjusted operating result after depreciation and amortization. By focusing on the efficient development of its own sales company, the consequent expansion of its ticket volumes and concentrating on profitable festivals, DEAG is excellently positioned to continue expanding on its profitable growth and to strengthen its position in the European entertainment business.

Given anticipated further growth in the area of Classical Music and Family Entertainment and the completed investments in the Festivals segment, the company expects continued high sales and EBIT in the medium to upper single-digit million euro range in 2017.

During the course of today the report on the first nine months of 2016 will be available for download on the company’s website.

About DEAG

DEAG Deutsche Entertainment AG (DEAG) is an integrated entertainment content company and a leading provider of live entertainment in Europe. DEAG produces and profitably organizes a broad range of events and concerts. Its own distribution business, mytic myticket AG, which is also share-held by two large print and TV media companies, increases the company’s profitability and scales its business model. DEAG realizes around 2,000 concerts and events a year, selling more than 5 million tickets, of which a steadily increasing part is sold via its high-turnover online distribution channel myticket.

Events cover rock/pop, festivals (national and international), classical music, jazz, German Hit songs and Middle-of-the-Road music and the strongly growing family entertainment division. Particularly the festivals and family entertainment divisions are fundamental for the further development of DEAG’s own content. Its network of strong partners allows DEAG to put itself in an excellent market position as an internationally active live entertainment group. DEAG shares (ISIN: DE000A0Z23G6 | WKN: A0Z23G | ERMK) are quoted in the Prime Standard segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, which is the quality segment of the Deutsche Börse, the German stock exchange.