Germany-based ticketing and live entertainment firm CTS Eventim is set to receive €102m from the federal government for the two months the country was in COVID-19 enforced lockdowns last year.
The firm will receive the “extraordinary” COVID-19 financial aid for the months of November and December 2020.
The support will help CTS Eventim to “strengthen the result for the current financial year and the company’s liquidity”.
The German government rolled out the financial aid scheme to reimburse companies, institutions and self-employed people for the several months that the country was in lockdown, which forced many businesses to take major losses.
Through the scheme, businesses have been able to recoup up to 75 per cent of sales from November and December 2019 in the form of grants, which have been awarded proportionally for the number of days of closure during the same months in 2020.
The €102m in funding for CTS Eventim comes after the ticketing and live entertainment company in May reported that group revenue in 2020 fell by 82.2 per cent year-on-year to €256.8m. Its ticketing arm, which was one of the hardest hit, saw a 73.7 per cent fall from 2019 to €126.6m.
Eventim’s live entertainment division was 86.1 per cent lower year-on-year, down to €136.8m from €985.89m.
Following the release of its 2020 financial results, Klaus-Peter Schulenberg, chief executive of CTS Eventim remained positive for the year ahead, stating the firm was “superbly positioned” for when the live industry reopens.
He said: “With our full-scale cost management from the very beginning of the crisis and thanks to our prudent economic management in the years before, we see ourselves as superbly positioned when live shows return to concert halls and our business revives.
“In view of the increasing availability of vaccines and rapid tests, and the progress of vaccination campaigns, there are good prospects that our industry can start getting back to normal over the next few months.”
Eventim has continued expanding its business in 2021 with the acquisition of Berlin-based promoter DreamHaus, taking its Eventim Live promoter network up to 36 promoters in 15 countries.
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