Corporate News

DEAG achieves new revenue level in “transformation year” 2024 – Strategic investments and strong start to the year create basis for future sustainable growth

• Revenue increases by around 18% to a new high of roughly EUR 370 million
• EBITDA of EUR 14.4 million temporarily impacted by strategic investments in the future and non-recurring effects
• International expansion and M&A strategy successfully continued
• Ticketing remains on a growth trajectory with over 11 million tickets sold across the Group
• As of the reporting date, around 4 million tickets already sold for 2025, securing approx. EUR 150 million in revenue
• Strong increase in earnings with a moderate increase in revenue expected in 2025

Berlin, 25 April 2025 – DEAG Deutsche Entertainment Aktiengesellschaft (“DEAG”) looks back on a mixed financial year 2024, which was characterised on the one hand by a new revenue peak, but also by targeted, above-average strategic investments in future growth. With an increase in revenue of around 18% to approximately EUR 370 million (previous year: EUR 313.5 million), DEAG achieved the highest revenues in the company’s history. Due to targeted investments, a temporary decline in operating earnings was accepted for the reporting year. In the fourth quarter of 2024, revenues rose by around 17% year-on-year to around EUR 117 million, mainly due to a strong Christmas-related business. With high advance sales for live events in 2025, a solid foundation has been laid for DEAG’s sustainable, successful business development. As of the reporting date, DEAG had already sold around 4 million tickets to events taking place in 2025. The company thus set a new benchmark for advance sales figures for a subsequent year, which ensures high visibility and predictability for 2025. Therefore, the revenue already secured is around EUR 150 million, significantly exceeding the previous peak of EUR 129 million from 2021 for 2022, DEAG’s most successful financial year to date.

A rapidly growing share of ticket sales is already being processed via the Group’s own ticketing platforms. In financial year 2024, DEAG increased the number of tickets sold to more than 11 million just as planned, following over 10 million tickets sold in 2023. For the financial year 2025, DEAG is aiming to sell 12 million tickets for concerts, festivals and live events.

EBITDA amounted to EUR 14.4 million (previous year: EUR 26.4 million). The weaker EBITDA compared to the previous year was mainly due to non-recurring special effects: future investments in organisational and strategic development, particularly in connection with the restructuring of the Executive Board and Supervisory Board, as well as additional expenses resulting from weather-related challenges in the staging of open-air events in parts of Europe, which were necessary in the areas of security and logistics. Another effect arose from the implementation of strategic measures for comprehensive digitalisation – a forward-looking initiative with which the company is strengthening its innovative power and laying the foundation for sustainable growth. Additionally, in the course of the market consolidation in the festival segment in Europe, selective portfolio adjustments were also made at DEAG with the corresponding effects in order to further increase profitability in the future. Despite these effects, the EBITDA margin was around 4% and is expected to increase significantly again in the current financial year.

DEAG successfully continued its Buy & Build strategy in 2024 and expanded its strong market position as a leading European live entertainment provider through targeted acquisitions in various areas. In the UK, DEAG’s most important core market after Germany, DEAG strengthened its position in the Spoken Word & Literary Events segment by acquiring How To Academy. DEAG also expanded its portfolio in the UK by acquiring the promoter and live entertainment organiser ShowPlanr. In DEAG’s festival segment, which continues to grow strongly, the company acquired a majority stake in black mamba Event & Marketing GmbH, which organises the renowned electronic urban festival “SPUTNIK SPRING BREAK” with more than 30,000 visitors. District Live GmbH has also been part of the DEAG Group since the end of 2024. The company acts as a booking agency and tour promoter in the field of Urban Music and Hip Hop. Following the successful brand launch in Spain at the end of 2023, DEAG successfully continued its expansion into other European countries: With the acquisition of Live Entertainment promoter MC2 Live Srl, DEAG successfully entered the Italian music market in the fall of 2024.

In addition, DEAG once again successfully organised many tours, festivals, concerts and live events of all genres and sizes in 2024, including concerts by AC/DC, Zucchero and Tream as well as the Böhse Onkelz open-air tour and over 30 festivals and open-air events in the EDM (Electronic Dance Music) and Rock/Pop genres, amongst others. DEAG also organised the “Barcelona Rock Fest” for the first time, featuring bands like Deep Purple, Parkway Drive and Pantera. “Tim Burton’s Labyrinth,” a multimedia exhibition that sold over 100,000 tickets, was yet another highlight. The Spoken Word & Literary Events segment continued to develop very successfully, for example with the popular event format “An Evening with...,” presenting world-famous authors, or the international literature festival lit.COLOGNE that celebrated its 25th anniversary in March 2025 with around 120,000 visitors.

The current financial year 2025 has started excellently and is expected to be strong. In the coming quarters, visitors can look forward to first-class entertainment at concerts and tours by artists such as Sam Fender, Stereophonics, Andrea Bocelli, Till Lindemann, Lana Del Rey, Iron Maiden and the long-sold-out stadium show by the Scorpions, who are celebrating their 60th anniversary as a band. Also in high demand: The 45th anniversary tour of Böhse Onkelz, for which 160,000 tickets were sold exclusively via the Group’s own ticketing platform myticket.de within just a few hours. Due to overwhelming demand, the Berlin Philharmonic will give a second end-of-season concert at Berlin’s Waldbühne for the first time in 2025. DEAG is also expecting hundreds of thousands of visitors again at its festivals, such as the 30th anniversary edition of NATURE ONE, MAYDAY, Airbeat One and the Belladrum Tartan Heart.

“We have consistently implemented our growth strategy and consciously decided to invest in our sustainable business development in 2024 in order to position ourselves for the future in the best possible setup. Successes are already visible. We have started the current year with momentum, and our ticket sales are at record levels. Our event pipeline is excellently filled, and we expect a significantly stronger year in 2025 with a substantial increase in profitability,” said Detlef Kornett, Group CEO of DEAG.

The full Annual Financial Report for 2024 is available for download on DEAG’s corporate website at www.deag.de.

About DEAG

DEAG Deutsche Entertainment AG (“DEAG”), founded in Berlin in 1978, is a leading provider of Live Entertainment, Ticketing, and Entertainment Services in Europe.

With Group companies at 24 locations, DEAG is present in its core markets of Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Switzerland, Denmark, Spain, and Italy. As a Live Entertainment service provider with an integrated business model and a strong international partner network, DEAG has extensive expertise in the conception, organisation, promotion, and production of live events of all genres and sizes.

The Live Entertainment segment includes the core business areas of Music – covering Rock/Pop, including Urban and Electronic Dance Music, Classics & Jazz – and Non-Music, such as Spoken Word & Literary Events and Family Entertainment. Each year, DEAG organises over 6,000 live events and sells more than 10 million tickets, a steadily increasing proportion of which is processed through the DEAG Group’s ticketing platforms: myticket.de, myticket.at, myticket.co.uk, gigantic.com and tickets.ie.

Live Entertainment for all generations and target audiences, expansion into international markets, and the strengthening of the ticketing area are central building blocks of DEAG’s ongoing development.

Investor & Public Relations
Axel Mühlhaus, edicto GmbH
Eschersheimer Landstraße 42
60322 Frankfurt/Main, Germany
Phone: 0049 69 905505-52
e-mail: deag@edicto.de