EQS-News: DEAG Deutsche Entertainment Aktiengesellschaft: DEAG 2022 on track for expansion with massive growth, the highest revenue and EBITDA in company history – positive development expected to continue

Corporate News

DEAG 2022 on track for expansion with massive growth, the highest revenue and EBITDA in company history – positive development expected to continue in 2023

• Revenue plus 258.3% to approx. EUR 325 million
• EBITDA plus 40.3% to approx. EUR 31 million
• Strong fourth quarter underpins DEAG’s excellent positioning
• Profitable growth strategy to be continued

Berlin, 23 March 2023 – DEAG Deutsche Entertainment Aktiengesellschaft (“DEAG”) has set new records in financial year 2022 by posting massive year-on-year and pre-corona level increases in revenue and EBITDA. The strong performance was driven on the one hand by catch-up effects following the relaunch of live entertainment, but above all by the organic expansion of DEAG’s event pipeline and formats in recent years, successful M&A activities and the further expansion of ticketing. In 2022, the companies acquired by DEAG since 2019 also made a significant contribution to the good performance for the first full year.

According to preliminary figures, revenue in financial year 2022 rose by 258.3% to around EUR 325 million, compared to EUR 90.7 million in the previous year and EUR 185.2 million in the pre-corona year 2019. Recurring revenues from DEAG’s own event formats and brands again made a significant contribution to the total revenue in 2022. Group revenue before consolidation amounted to approx. EUR 352 million in financial year 2022, compared to approx.  EUR 97 million in the previous year and approx. EUR 197 million in financial year 2019. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation, EBITDA, were around EUR 31 million in 2022, 40.3% above the previous year’s level of EUR 22.1 million, despite one-off special effects of around EUR 3 million, and also improved significantly compared to the pre-crisis year 2019 (EUR 14.1 million). DEAG has thus significantly exceeded its revenue and earnings targets of an increase in revenue to over EUR 300 million with a further improvement in EBITDA in financial year 2022. The company has also considerably increased its ticket sales. Having sold more than 5 million tickets during the years prior to the Corona pandemic, more than 9 million tickets were sold in financial year 2022.

In the past financial year, DEAG continued to gain strength in all areas. In the area of ticketing, the Group’s own platforms myticket and Gigantic Tickets were supplemented by the acquisition of the Irish ticketing platform tickets.ie. DEAG now sells a large share of the tickets to its events via its own platforms and also third-party content to a very significant extent. DEAG has also further expanded its market position through acquisitions of promoters, festivals and events in the Rock/Pop, EDM (Electronic Dance Music) and Classics & Jazz genres. The acquisitions successfully contributed to the Group’s revenue, as do acquisitions in the areas of the Spoken Word & Literary Events. DEAG was able to start realising the great potential of additional value creation through the integration of newly acquired Group companies. These acquisitions give the company access to high-class event formats and venues as well as state-of-the-art technologies.

The growth momentum of the previous quarters continued unabated in the fourth quarter of 2022. Revenue in the final quarter of the year rose by 35.0% to around EUR 90 million compared to the same period of the previous year, and EBITDA by 21.6% to approx. EUR 11 million. The development was driven by high advance ticket sales for 2023, a very strong Christmas business overall and especially by DEAG’s own successful Christmas Garden format, which attracted more than 2 million visitors at 19 locations in the season up to mid-January 2023. In the coming 2023/2024 season, the number of locations is to be expanded to over 25 in Germany and other European countries. 

Financial year 2023 got off to an excellent start for DEAG with sold-out events such as Ed Sheeran at The O2, “Disney on Ice”, events with award-winning filmmaker and bestselling author Quentin Tarantino, the international literature festival "lit.COLOGNE", the world’s most successful dance show “Riverdance” or, for example, performances by the Béjart Ballet Lausanne, and DEAG expects further growth for the current financial year 2023. This planning is underpinned by a strong event pipeline with around 6,000 events for which DEAG aims to sell over 10 million tickets. This is expected to be another record year in the company’s 45-year history. Further acquisitions, several of which are currently in the pipeline, are not included in the current plans, but an unchanged part of the international expansion strategy. DEAG plans to intensify its M&A activities in the second half of 2023, with a particular focus on the ticketing segment.

“The enormous recovery and growth in revenue and EBITDA well above the level of the last comparable financial year 2019, a rock-solid balance sheet and a consistently implemented growth strategy characterised the year 2022 for DEAG. Our expansion measures, which we continued unwaveringly during the corona caesura, are bearing fruit. We will continue to move forward along this path. We sell 'the little slice of happiness' even in economically difficult times and have always seen particularly high demand, especially in recession years. With an increasing number of their own branded and thus also high-margin event formats, an organisation and crew created for growth and ticketing that is growing steadily and with good margins, we can be confident for the years ahead. With the tailwind of strong annual figures and a very positive operating performance, we also see ourselves very well prepared for the upcoming refinancing of our corporate bond as well as the further consistent implementation of the corporate strategy,” commented Professor Peter L.H. Schwenkow, CEO of DEAG.

DEAG will publish its Annual Financial Report for the year 2022 on 31 March 2023.

As already announced in October 2022, DEAG is examining various options for refinancing the 2018/2023 bond, including the option of issuing a new corporate bond depending on the market environment. A possible new bond could be used for the early refinancing of the 2018/2023 bond, while sufficient liquidity is already available for the foreseeable growth due to the excellent business development. DEAG will provide information on this. 

About DEAG

DEAG Deutsche Entertainment Aktiengesellschaft (DEAG), a leading entertainment service company and live entertainment provider, produces and promotes live events of all genres and sizes in Europe. With its group companies, DEAG has been present at 20 locations in its core markets of Germany, Great Britain, Switzerland, Ireland and Denmark. As a live entertainment service provider with an integrated business model, DEAG has extensive expertise in the conception, organisation, promotion and production of events.

Founded in Berlin in 1978, DEAG's core business areas today include Rock/Pop, Classics & Jazz, Family Entertainment, Spoken Word & Literary Events, Arts+Exhibitions and Ticketing. Live Entertainment for all generations including Arts+Exhibitions are important building blocks for the further development of DEAG's own content.

For around 6,000 events, over 10 million tickets are sold annually for own and third-party content - a continuously growing share of these is sold via the group's own e-commerce platforms myticket, Gigantic Tickets and tickets.ie.

With its strong partner network, DEAG is excellently positioned in the market.

Investor & Public Relations

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