LIVE NATION'S Q2:
UP, UP AND AWAY

Live Nation posted double-digit growth in operating income across its multiple divisions in the second quarter of 2018. Operating income was up 11% to $41.8m; sponsorship and advertising grew 12% to $80.5m; and ticketing spiked 13% to $49.1m.

Live Nation’s overall revenue rose 5% in the quarter to $2.87b of which, $2.38b came from concerts.

The company promoted 6,321 concerts in the three months that ended 6/30 in North America, another 2,756 internationally. Those 9,000+ shows attracted more 25m concertgoers.

Revenue for the first six months was up 9% to $4.35b, which the company attributed to increased show count and attendance. The company anticipated that it will have promoted 20 of the Top 25 tours of the year.

In a note to investors, President & CEO Michael Rapino reported that amphitheater attendance is up double-digits through the second quarter and on track to grow by 3m fans for the full year.

Through the second quarter, LN booked more than 5,000 arena and amphitheater shows, up 18% over this point last year. Through July, LN and Ticketmaster have sold approximately 70m tickets, 3m more than in 2017.

The first phase of the company’s digital ticketing roll-out focused on deploying the Presence access control systems. Presence systems exist in 125 venues with another 75 venues planned in the second half of this year. Mobile fee-bearing ticket sales are up 34% for the year, accounting for 40% of all fee-bearing ticket sales, with mobile conversion rates up double-digits.

“Overall, we think the industry is having a great, continued growth phase and we think it will last for quite a while, especially as the international and global markets start to build more venues and infrastructure to emulate a lot of the U.S. infrastructure," Rapino said on a call with investors and analysts.