Ticketmaster Reports Strong 2ND Quarter and 6-Month Results

Business Wire, Sept 9, 1997

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 9, 1997--Ticketmaster Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: TKTM) today reported revenues of $81.7 million for the second quarter of the 1998 fiscal year ended July 31, 1997, up 53.5% from revenues of $53.2 million in the second quarter of the 1997 fiscal year ended July 31, 1996. EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) was $12.1 million in the fiscal 1998 second quarter, more than twice EBITDA of $4.5 million in the fiscal 1997 second quarter. Attributable EBITDA (including Ticketmaster's pro rata share of EBITDA of its unconsolidated joint ventures) was $13.2 million in the fiscal 1998 second quarter, approximately double attributable EBITDA of $6.5 million in the year-ago quarter. Operating income was $6.9 million in the fiscal 1998 second quarter versus operating income of $3.1 million in the year-ago period.

Pre-tax income in the fiscal 1998 second quarter was $4.7 million versus pre-tax income of $0.1 million in the fiscal 1997 second quarter. Net income in the fiscal 1998 second quarter was $2.0 million versus a net loss of $0.4 million in the fiscal 1997 second quarter. Earnings per share were $0.08 in the fiscal 1998 second quarter versus a loss of $0.03 in the year-ago period. Ticketmaster sold 16.3 million tickets, including sales by its unconsolidated joint ventures, in the fiscal 1998 second quarter, up 7.6% from 15.1 million tickets in the year-ago quarter.

"Ticketmaster delivered another good quarter, driven by continued strong results in our core ticketing business. EBITDA continues to grow rapidly, and we are reporting positive net income sooner than many people expected despite an unusually high tax rate caused primarily by non-deductible amortization of intangible assets, including goodwill, resulting from acquisitions," said Fredric D. Rosen, President and CEO. "We also took significant steps to consolidate our ticketing joint ventures and licensees and to expand our business internationally. During the quarter, we acquired full ownership of our Ticketmaster-Northwest joint venture, entered into an alliance to develop automated ticketing in Central and South America and acquired a 50% interest in The Ticket Shop Limited, a ticketing company based in Dublin, Ireland. More recently, we have also achieved full ownership of Ticketmaster-Tennessee, and as of yesterday, increased our ownership interest in Ticketmaster- Southeast from 33 1/3 percent to 66 2/3 percent. With the continued strength of our core ticketing business - and our increasing success in expanding our other entertainment-related businesses - we are well positioned for future growth."

For the six months ended July 31, 1997, revenues were $158.7 million, up 58.8% from revenues of $100.0 million in the year-ago period. EBITDA was $23.3 million in the fiscal 1998 six months, more than three times EBITDA of $6.3 million in the fiscal 1997 period. Attributable EBITDA was $25.4 million in the fiscal 1998 six-month period, more than twice attributable EBITDA of $10.1 million in the year-ago period. Operating income was $13.8 million in the fiscal 1998 six months, nearly four times operating income of $3.5 million in the fiscal 1997 period.

Pre-tax income in the fiscal 1998 six months was $9.4 million versus a pre-tax loss of $2.5 million in the fiscal 1997 period. Net income in the fiscal 1998 six months was $3.9 million versus a net loss of $2.4 million in the fiscal 1997 six months. Earnings per share were $0.15 in the fiscal 1998 six months versus a loss of $0.16 in the fiscal 1997 period. Ticketmaster sold a total of 33.5 million tickets, including sales by its unconsolidated joint ventures, in the first six months of fiscal 1998, up 10.2% from 30.4 million tickets in the year-ago period.

Ticketmaster is the world's leading computerized ticketing service, selling more than 60 million tickets a year through over 2,900 retail ticket center outlets, 25 telephone call centers, and Ticketmaster's Internet site. Ticketmaster serves more than 3,750 clients in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Europe, and Australia. The company provides ticketing for 85 professional sports franchises and hundreds of leading arenas, stadiums, performing arts venues, and theaters. Clients receive comprehensive ticket inventory control and management, broad distribution, and dedicated marketing and support services. The public receives convenient access to tickets for more than 150,000 events a year, including a broad range of concerts, sports, family entertainment, performing arts, and movies. -0-

                         TICKETMASTER GROUP, INC.
                            and Subsidiaries
                 Consolidated Statements of Operations
           (in thousands, except share and per share information)
                              (Unaudited)

                                       Three months ended July 31,
                                            1996         1997

Revenue:
   Ticketing operations                  $   50,039 $   69,473
   Concession control systems                     0      8,484
   Publications                               2,522      3,010
   Merchandising                                657        728
                                             53,218     81,695
Operating costs:
   Ticketing operations                      30,905     39,503
   Ticketing selling, general
    and administrative                        8,453     12,415
   Concession control systems operations          0      4,814
   Concession control systems selling, general
       and administrative                         0      2,766
   Publications                               4,594      4,134
   Merchandising                                575        709
   Corporate general and administrative       4,170      5,218
   Depreciation                               1,410      2,552
   Amortization of goodwill(a)                  464      1,260
   Amortization of other(a)                     702      1,783
   Equity in net income of
    unconsolidated affiliates                (1,124)    (1,037)

           Operating income                   3,069      6,922

Other (income) expenses:
   Interest expense, net                      3,005      2,186
   Minority interests                           (18)        27
        Income (loss) before income taxes        82      4,709

Income tax provision (benefit)                  521      2,730

        Net income (loss)             $        (439) $   1,979

Net income (loss) per share           $       (0.03) $    0.08

Weighted average number of
common shares outstanding                15,310,405 25,945,986

Supplemental Information:
   EBITDA                             $       4,521 $   12,136
   Attributable EBITDA(b)             $       6,464 $   13,195
   Number of Tickets Sold
        Consolidated Businesses              11,114     14,165
        Unconsolidated Joint Ventures         4,021      2,116
        Total                                15,135     16,281
-0-

                                         Six months ended July 31,
                                           1996           1997
Revenue:

   Ticketing operations                     $94,052 $  136,865
   Concession control systems                     0     14,734
   Publications                               4,512      5,977
   Merchandising                              1,395      1,122
                                             99,959    158,698

Operating costs:
   Ticketing operations                      58,655     78,608
   Ticketing selling, general
    and administrative                       16,278     23,015
   Concession control systems operations          0      8,515
   Concession control systems selling, general
    and administrative                            0      5,053
   Publications                               4,594      4,134
   Merchandising                              1,226      1,059
   Corporate general and administrative       8,396     10,339
   Depreciation                               2,760      4,785
   Amortization of goodwill(a)                  912      2,288
   Amortization of other(a)                   1,257      3,450
   Equity in net income of
    unconsolidated affiliate                 (2,136)    (1,037)

Operating income                              3,496     13,766

Other (income) expenses:
   Interest expense, net                      5,917      4,286
   Minority interests                           126         70
   Income (loss) before income taxes         (2,547)     9,410

Income tax provision (benefit)                 (129)     5,550

Net income (loss)                         $  (2,418)  $  3,860

Net income (loss) per share               $   (0.16)  $   0.15

Weighted average number of
 common shares outstanding               15,310,405 25,669,440

Supplemental Information:
   EBITDA                                 $   6,289   $ 23,252
   Attributable EBITDA(b)                 $  10,068   $ 25,396
   Number of Tickets Sold
    Consolidated Businesses                  21,580     28,973
    Unconsolidated Joint Ventures             8,823      4,541
     Total                                   30,403     33,514


(a) For the six months ended July 31, 1997, non-deductible
amortization of intangible assets, including goodwill, totaled
$2,985,000.

(b) Attributable EBITDA is EBITDA plus Ticketmasters pro rata share
of EBITDA of unconsolidated joint ventures.