Ticketmaster/Live Nation merger: Live Nation reports 4Q loss

A write down of nearly $270 million helped swing Live Nation to record a loss in net income of about $337.5 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2008, the company announced this week.

The write down was due to a goodwill impairment in the quarter that the company said was “related to decreased market capitalization,” or the precipitous drop in the price of its stock. Live Nation shares trade under the symbol LYV, and is currently trading below $3, and its proposed merger with Ticketmaster has done little to entice investors. Ticketmaster’s stock closed below $4 per share today, March 3. See Live Nation ticker below.

Live Nation’s revenues for the quarter fell to $916 million, down from $922.4 million for the same period the year before, and adjusted operating income also dropped to $28.4 million, down from $33.9 in 2007.

For the entire year of 2008, however, the company showed significantly more impressive signs of life.

Revenues for the year were up 11 percent to $4.17 billion, and adjusted operating income also climbed 20.3 percent to $169.8 million. “For the full year we promoted over 22,000 events with over 52 million attendees compared to 17,000 events and 46 million attendees in 2007 an increase of 12 percent in attendance and 32 percent in events,” Live Nation President and CEO Michael Rapino told investors Monday.

He is confident that 2009 could be a good year, despite an overall downturn in advertising and sponsorship throughout most industries, Live Nation’s sponsorship revenue is up 25 percent so far this year over the same period in 2008.

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