Live Nation's revenue for the second quarter of 2020 was down 98 percent from the previous year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. But the concert promoters believe they'll be in a good position when the touring industry returns to normal.

According to public documents filed with the SEC, Live Nation took in $74.1 million during the past three months as opposed to $3.15 billion for the same period in 2019. This includes a net loss of $87 million in the ticketing field due to refunds. For the entirety of 2020, the company is down 71 percent, with revenue of $1.43 billion against $4.88 billion last year.

However, the statement noted that 86 percent of fans are holding on to tickets for shows that have been rescheduled - including two-thirds of all festival dates - and that sales for next year's festivals in the U.K. are robust. In total, 19 million tickets have been sold for upcoming concerts and festivals.

The documents add that Live Nation held only 24 concerts in 2020's second quarter, compared to 7,213 shows during the same period last year.

Live Nation also noted it has $2.7 billion in available liquidity that will allow the company to operate at current capacity "until the expected return of concerts at scale in the summer of 2021, preceded by ticket sales earlier in the year." It also spotlighted the success of its streaming concerts, including the Virtual Lollapalooza Festival this past weekend, as proof that demand for live music remains high. Live Nation is looking for ways to further integrate streams into its business model in the future.

"While this is a challenging time for everyone – the live events business in particular – there are a few things that I am confident about," company president and CEO Michael Rapino said. "We are well positioned to weather this crisis, and we will get through this. When it is safe to return, we will have an abundance of fans and artists ready to enjoy live music again, and Live Nation will do everything in its power to meet our responsibilities to artists, fans, our employees and everyone else affected by this shutdown by bringing back as much live music as fast as possible when it is responsible to do so."

 

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