Highlights (year-over-year):

- Revenue Up 10% for the Quarter at Constant Currency to $1.2 Billion

- AOI Up 7% for the Quarter at Constant Currency to $74 Million

- Reported Revenue of $1.2 Billion; Operating Loss of $33 Million for the Quarter

- Concert Ticket Sales for Shows in 2016 Up 10% through April

- Sponsorship & Advertising Contracted Net Revenue at Constant Currency Up 11% through April

- Ticketmaster Global GTV at Constant Currency Up 18% through First Quarter

Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE:  LYV) today released financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2016.   

Live Nation has continued growing its business in 2016, with first quarter revenue up 10% and AOI up 7% on a constant currency basis, with strong operating performance across the three divisions -  concerts, advertising and ticketing.  More importantly, at four months into the year we have enough information from leading indicators to be confident that we are on track to deliver record top line and bottom line results in 2016 as we continue building global market share in all our businesses.

We have built the industry's most scalable and unparalleled live platform, connecting over 500 million fans to that magical two-hour event each year.  Concerts are the flywheel for our high-margin on-site retail, sponsorship & advertising, and ticketing businesses, and this year will be another step forward in the company delivering strong long-term growth.

Concerts Global Platform Growth

Starting with the concerts business, ticket sales for shows this year are pacing 10% ahead of last year through April 29th, with over 35 million tickets already sold.  We continue to be the world's leading promoter with 21 of the top 25 global tours in 2016, including Beyoncé, Coldplay, Guns N' Roses, Rihanna and Drake, driving a 13% increase in confirmed stadium, arena and amphitheater shows for the year, as of the end of April.

Along with attendance growth, we also expect to continue growing our high-margin on-site revenue this year as we more effectively target specific customer segments with new product offerings, notably at the high end, and with our upgraded Live Nation app that will enable ordering from the seat at many of our amphitheaters.

Festivals continue to have strong appeal for fans and artists and we are leveraging our leadership position with 78 festivals and 7 million fans to build our fan base while also creating a powerful platform for monetizing fans across advertising, on-site sales, and ticketing.

At the same time, we are expanding our global footprint, most recently adding South Africa as the 37th country we promote in, and our acquisition of Founders Entertainment which builds our presence in New York and adds Governors Ball to our global festival portfolio.

Our Artist Nation division continues to attract managers and their artist clients organically and through targeted acquisitions, feeding our concerts business.

Sponsorship & Advertising Delivered Continued Growth

The sponsorship & advertising business continued its strong growth in the first quarter, with revenue up 13% and AOI up 9% on a constant currency basis.  Through April, we have sold over 70% of our expected sponsorship and advertising for the year, positioning us for another year of double-digit growth.

As part of this, our contracted online advertising is up 14% through April as we further leverage our ability to integrate ticket-buying behavior with brands' customer data to create more targeted profiling, leading to increased effectiveness of digital buys in music. Our online advertising is also growing from our increased content creation with our 25,000 concerts each year, as we work with a range of distribution partners to extend the live event and drive ad revenue.

And our contracted sponsorship is up 10% through April as more brands see the value from our scale platform of over 60 million fans as an effective way to directly connect with potential customers.

Ticketmaster Marketplace Growing

Ticketmaster continued to build its global marketplace in the first quarter, increasing gross transaction value (GTV) by 18% at constant currency.   This growth was led by continued strength in our secondary ticketing GTV, which was up 43% at constant currency, making this quarter the eighth consecutive quarter with growth over 20% in secondary GTV.

Primary ticketing GTV grew by 16% for the quarter at constant currency.  The month of February was our largest ever at Ticketmaster, selling over 17 million tickets globally, and during the quarter we had five of the top 20 ticket volume days in the history of Ticketmaster.

We have been able to continue growing our ticketing platform by simultaneously serving our existing venue clients, attracting new clients and developing fan products that increase conversion.  Over the past year, we have reinforced our position as the top global ticketing partner for venues and content, adding over 150 new clients to our more than 12 thousand clients.

On the product side, one of our main areas of focus continues to be delivering a great mobile experience for fans buying at Ticketmaster.  At this point, our websites are largely mobile responsive ready, and we have continued to upgrade our iOS and Android apps.  As a result, we increased our mobile ticket sales by 30% year-on-year, now accounting for 25% of all ticket sales.

During the first quarter we also made major strides in realizing our vision of an open marketplace.  We launched our first fully functional API with Bandsintown, enabling fans to directly search Ticketmaster's inventory and buy tickets without leaving the Bandsintown app.  This week we are launching the same functionality with Facebook, both with their app and online, and expect to rapidly scale from there.  While still early, initial results show strong conversion uplift.

With Ticketmaster off to a great start over the first four months, in 2016 we expect to continue the profit growth trend of the past several years, with continued opportunity for years to come.

Summary

2016 is on track to be another year of growth and record results for the company.  All of the leading indicators for our concerts, sponsorship and ticketing businesses are performing ahead of last year and we expect each of the businesses to deliver revenue, AOI and free cash flow growth this year.

Our results are demonstrating the fundamental strength and growth trajectory of live events and Live Nation's positioning to deliver long-term profit and cash flow growth.

Michael Rapino
President and Chief Executive Officer
Live Nation Entertainment, Inc.

The company will webcast a teleconference today at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time to discuss its financial performance. Interested parties should visit the Events & Webcasts section of the company's website at investors.livenationentertainment.com to listen to the webcast. Supplemental statistical and financial information to be provided on the call, if any, will be available under the Reports section at the same link. A replay of the webcast will also be available on the Live Nation website.

About Live Nation Entertainment:
Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:  LYV), or Live Nation, is the world's leading live entertainment company comprised of global market leaders: Ticketmaster, Live Nation Concerts, Live Nation Media & Sponsorship and Artist Nation Management. For additional information, visit investors.livenationentertainment.com.