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Adjusted EBITDA rises 36% in Q1

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Sees no risk from potential Live Nation lawsuit

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Shares surge more than 10%

(Adds company, analyst comment on report of US DOJ seeking

break up of Live Nation in paragraphs 4-9, updates share price)

By Linda Pasquini and Mateusz Dobrzyniewski

May 23 (Reuters) - German ticketing firm CTS Eventim

reported a 36% rise in first quarter adjusted core

profit boosted by rising demand for music and sports events and

online ticket sales, sending its shares to a record high on

Thursday.

The company has benefited from the resurgence of live

concerts, festivals and sporting events after the end of the

COVID-19 pandemic, as well as ticket presales for tours by

artists such as Taylor Swift.

"We see momentum setting up for a better than expected

2024," analysts at JPMorgan said, with mid-term performance

supported by recent sporting event tender wins such as becoming

the official ticket service provider of the Los Angeles 2028

Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Any change in the U.S. regulatory environment stemming from

a potential lawsuit by the Department of Justice (DOJ) against

Live Nation Entertainment ( LYV ) would be a positive for CTS

Eventim, Jefferies analyst Henrik Paganetty told Reuters, as it

would open up opportunities for the German company to gain

market share.

CTS Eventim entered the United States in 2021 and has since

struck a number of deals aimed at expanding its ticketing and

promoting business in the region.

The DOJ is potentially seeking to break up Live Nation from

Ticketmaster, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, after a

botched sale of Taylor Swift tickets rekindled calls by fans and

politicians to re-examine of the 2010 merger of the businesses.

CTS Eventim declined to comment on the report but said it

did not see risks from the lawsuit in European markets, which

are already highly regulated, unlike in the U.S..

The likelihood of similar scrutiny of CTS Eventim by

European competition authorities is quite low, Paganetty said,

in part due to the company's lower exposure to the venue

business compared to its U.S. competitor.

"Live Nation has much more power," he said.

CTS Eventim's quarterly adjusted earnings before interest,

taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose to 92.2

million euros ($99.89 million), driven by the highly profitable

ticketing segment, where EBITDA was up 24.9%.

Ticketing accounted for a little over 30% of the group's

revenue in 2023 but almost 77% of EBITDA.

Shares were up 10.4% at 89.10 euros at 1210 GMT, the highest

since the company's listing in 2000.

($1 = 0.9230 euros)