Joe GallopPan-European promoter, venue operator and ticketing conglomerate Deutsche Entertainment AG (DEAG) said its nine-month revenue results have “exceeded expectations” across all segments and country markets in 2023.
The results show nine-month revenue in 2023 of more than €213 million and EBITDA of around €14 million. Its full-year revenue is expected above €300 million in 2023.
Compared to 2019, DEAG’s revenue increased by 73.3% from €123.1 million to €213.3 million. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) also rose from €8 million in the first nine months of 2019 to €13.8 million (+72.5%) in the first nine months of the current financial year.
DEAG’s ticketing business includes the group’s own ticketing platforms myticket.de, myticket.at, myticket.co.uk, gigantic.com and tickets.ie. The company said it is gradually expanding this division and is ahead of plan for the first three quarters.
In the same period of the previous year, revenue totalled €235.1 million and EBITDA amounted to €20.3 million. In the third quarter of 2023, DEAG generated revenue of €90.7 million, compared to €101.7 million in the same period of the previous year, and EBITDA of €8.7 million (previous year: €10.2 million).
DEAG’s live events this year included German open-air and EDM events Nature One, Mayday, Syndicate and Airbeat One. Other events included tours and concerts by Kiss, Iron Maiden, Die Ärzte in Switzerland, as well as Ludovico Einaudi, Donny Osmond, The Sisters of Mercy and Rod Stewart in the UK.
Shortly after the end of the reporting period, DEAG also opened its new exhibition and show space Arches London Bridge in London. The tickets for this will be sold solely via DEAG’s ticketing platform Gigantic Tickets.
In the current fourth quarter, DEAG will promote various Christmas events in Germany. The Christmas Garden format, which attracted around 2 million visitors in the 2022/2023 season, was expanded to a total of 21 locations across six European countries in 2023/2024.
DEAG CEO Prof. Peter Schwenkow (pictured) said, “DEAG’s growth in 2023 exceeds our expectations. Without acquisitions in the current year and without significant catch-up effects as in 2022, the company has reached a new level of revenue and earnings compared to the pre-pandemic period. We are particularly pleased with the development in the Ticketing and Services businesses.
“DEAG is succeeding in selling an increasing share of tickets for concerts and events via its own ticketing platforms. The share of sales by third parties is also increasing. We will continue on our successful growth path, as M&A will remain a building block of our strategy. We are in advanced discussions with potential companies and will continue to establish new companies abroad.”