IMPACT OF THE GLOBAL COVID-19 PANDEMIC |
6 Months Ended |
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Jun. 30, 2020 | |
| Impact Of The Global COVID-19 Pandemic [Abstract] | |
| IMPACT OF THE GLOBAL COVID-19 PANDEMIC | IMPACT OF THE GLOBAL COVID-19 PANDEMIC The unprecedented and rapid spread of COVID-19 and the related government restrictions and social distancing measures implemented throughout the world have significantly impacted our live event business. We initially saw event restrictions in Asia and parts of Europe. Beginning in March, large public events were cancelled, governmental authorities began imposing restrictions on non-essential activities, and businesses suspended activities around the world. As the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic became clearer, we ceased all Live Nation tours and closed our venues in mid-March to support global efforts at social distancing and mitigating the virus, and to comply with restrictions put in place by various governmental entities, which has had a materially negative impact on our revenue and financial position.
Operating Results
Our second quarter and six-month results were materially impacted by these necessary actions. Our overall revenue for the quarter decreased by 98% to $74.1 million and for the six months decreased by 71% to $1.4 billion. The revenue reduction was across all of our segments as a result of few shows occurring globally beginning in the last half of March and low ticket sales for future shows during the same period, along with the impact of ticket refunds and show cancellations. We estimate the lost revenue impact from the global COVID-19 pandemic in the second quarter and first six months of 2020 to be approximately $2.9 billion and $3.3 billion, respectively. Our operating results for the second quarter and six months decreased as compared to the same periods of 2019 largely due to the global COVID-19 pandemic impacts to our business, totaling approximately $755 million and $879 million, respectively, including $12.1 million of definite-lived intangible assets impairment charges for the first six months of 2020.
The revenue recognized in our Concerts segment in the first six months of 2020 included the results of all the shows that occurred prior to the stoppage of events in mid-March. Our event-related deferred revenue for Concerts, which is reported as part of deferred revenue on our consolidated balance sheets, includes the face value and Concerts’ share of service charges for all tickets sold by June 30, 2020, for shows expected to occur in the next 12 months. Any refunds committed to for shows cancelled or rescheduled during the first six months have either been returned to fans or are reflected in accrued expenses on the consolidated balance sheets. In addition, we have recorded an estimate of $180.0 million in Concerts for refunds that may occur in the future based on the limited amount of data available on refunds resulting from the global shutdown of our live events. This estimate only impacts our financial position as a reclassification from deferred revenue or other long-term liabilities to accrued expenses. We expect that the majority of our shows postponed due to the pandemic will be rescheduled. Deferred revenue for tickets sold for shows expected to occur after June 30, 2021 totaled $486 million and are reflected in other long-term liabilities on our consolidated balance sheets.
By the end of the second quarter of 2020, we had cancelled nearly 3,900 concerts impacted by the stoppage of events starting in mid-March of this year, equating to approximately 12 million tickets, and have refunded or are in the process of refunding these tickets. In addition, we had nearly 6,400 shows equating to approximately 22 million tickets, that have been postponed and rescheduled into 2021 or were in the process of being rescheduled at the end of the second quarter.
The revenue recognized in our Ticketing segment in the first six months of 2020 includes our share of ticket service charges for tickets sold during the period for third-party clients and for shows that occurred in the period for our Concerts business where our promoters control the ticketing. Revenue in the period has been reduced by refunds given during the period. In addition, revenue has been reduced for any shows that were cancelled and for refunds requested on rescheduled shows, both during the first six months and up to the time of the filing of these financial statements, and funds have either been returned to the customer or are reflected in accrued expenses on the consolidated balance sheets. Our ticketing clients determine if shows will be rescheduled or cancelled and what the refund policy will be for those shows. We have not recorded an estimate for refunds that may occur in the future since our clients, not Ticketmaster, determine when shows are cancelled or rescheduled and we have a limited amount of historical data of refunds resulting from a global shutdown of live events on which to reliably determine an estimate. By the end of the second quarter of 2020 and through the time of this filing, Ticketing had processed or accrued for cancellations or refunds on 17.2 million tickets.
For events that are cancelled, our standard policy is to refund the fan within 30 days, though subject to regulations in various markets and in some cases at the discretion of venue or event organizer clients. Our ticket refund policies for rescheduled shows vary by ticketing client and country. In multiple international markets, including Germany, Italy and Belgium, government regulations which allow for the issuance of vouchers in place of cash refunds for rescheduled shows, and
in some cases for cancelled shows, have been put in place or drafted. The volume and pace of cash refunds could have a material negative effect on our liquidity and capital resources.
The length and severity of the reduction in live events due to the pandemic is uncertain; accordingly, we expect the negative impact to continue through the remainder of the year. The exact timing and pace of the recovery is uncertain given the significant impact of the pandemic on the overall United States and global economies. We believe the ongoing effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic on our operations have had, and will continue to have a material negative impact on our financial results and liquidity, and such negative impact may continue beyond the containment of such outbreak. We have never previously experienced a complete cessation of our live events and unprecedented reduction in the number of events selling tickets, and as a consequence, our ability to be predictive regarding the impact of such a cessation is uncertain and we are unable to estimate the impact on our business, financial condition or near- or longer-term financial or operational results.
Cash and available liquidity
We amended our senior secured credit facility in April 2020 and further amended it in July 2020 which, among other things, substitutes our net leverage covenant under our existing senior secured credit facility with a $500 million liquidity covenant (as defined in the agreement) until the earlier of (a) December 31, 2021 and (b) at our election, any fiscal quarter prior to December 31, 2021. These amendments will allow us the flexibility to manage our business through the disruption that we will experience in 2020.
In addition, we added a new incremental revolving credit facility of $130 million, extending our undrawn debt capacity. Following this increase, we have approximately $965.5 million in available debt capacity, including $400 million in undrawn term loan A capacity and $565.5 million in available revolver capacity, net of outstanding letters of credit. Finally, in May 2020, we issued $1.2 billion principal amount of 6.5% senior secured notes due 2027. We will continue to evaluate future financing opportunities to further expand liquidity at reasonable costs.
As of June 30, 2020, our total cash and cash equivalents balance was $3.3 billion, which included $745 million of ticketing client cash. This cash, net of client cash, together with our now available debt capacity of $965.5 million, we believe gives us the liquidity to fund our operations during the pandemic. Our total cash includes event-related deferred revenue for which the amount can fluctuate over the course of the year, but given the timing of shows in 2020 and expected substantial volume of on-sales for 2021 shows later in the second half of this year, we expect this number to remain above seasonally normal levels throughout this year.
Event-related deferred revenue consists of cash held by our Concerts business for future shows, with roughly half the funds associated with upcoming shows in the United States and half for international shows as of June 30, 2020. In the United States, the funds are largely associated with shows in our owned or operated venues, notably amphitheaters, festivals, theaters and clubs. Internationally, the funds held are from a combination of both shows in our owned or operated venues, as well as shows in third-party venues associated with our promoter share of tickets in allocation markets. We do not otherwise generally hold funds for concerts being held in third-party buildings. In the United States, venues traditionally hold all funds, and internationally either the venue holds all funds or holds the portion of funds associated with their ticket allocation.
Cost and Cash Management Programs
Given the uncertainty associated with the duration of current conditions globally, we have implemented a number of initiatives to reduce fixed costs and conserve cash. As part of these cost reduction efforts, we have implemented salary reductions for most of our employees, with salaries for senior executives reduced by up to 50%. Additional cost reduction efforts include hiring freezes, reduction in the use of contractors, rent re-negotiations, furloughs, and reduction or elimination of other discretionary spending, including, among other things, travel and entertainment, repairs and maintenance, and marketing.
We are also making full use of government support programs globally. In most European and Asian markets, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France, Spain and Australia, there are robust payroll support programs to mitigate a substantial portion of employee costs. Additionally, in the United States, we have filed for payroll support under the Employee Retention Credit program established as part of the 2020 CARES Act and expect to receive additional support in the second half of the year. Finally, the CARES Act also provides for deferred payment of the employer portion of social security taxes through the end of 2020, with 50% of the deferred amount due December 31, 2021 and the remaining 50% due December 31, 2022.
We are further protecting our cash outflows by reducing advances in both our ticketing and concert businesses, re-assessing all capital expenditure projects and evaluating all other cash deployment activities. As a result of these initiatives and government support programs, we are now targeting $800 million in cost reductions in 2020 and the elimination or deferral into 2021 of $1.4 billion in cash outflows, which primarily includes the cost reductions along with lower capital expenditures, acquisition payments, and concert and ticketing advances. With these additional savings, our operational cash burn rate is now expected to average $125 million per month from April to December of 2020. Adding in the rest of our cash outflows for non-operational items gives us a cash burn rate of an expected average of $185 million per month from April through the end of
2020. We believe this aggressive cost and cash management program, combined with a strong liquidity profile, positions us to manage through the global COVID-19 pandemic related hold on show activity and provides the flexibility to scale up quickly when shows restart.
Based on these actions and assumptions regarding the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic, we believe that we will be able to generate sufficient liquidity to satisfy our obligations for the next twelve months and remain in compliance with our existing debt covenants throughout 2020 prior to giving effect to any additional financing that may occur. Our forecasted expense management and liquidity measures may be modified as we get more clarity on the timing of events. We cannot assure you that our assumptions used to estimate our liquidity requirements will be correct because we have never previously experienced a complete cessation of our live events and the magnitude, duration and speed of the global pandemic is unknown, and as a consequence, our ability to be predictive is uncertain.
Health and Safety and Planning for a Return to Business
We are currently planning for the health and safety of our employees as they return to work in our offices in the future and for our artists and fans as they return to live events. We will return to work in local markets only after there is clear consensus that the time is right to do so, and then in appropriate numbers with expanded cleaning and social distancing protocols. Similarly, we are planning for the resumption of concerts when the time is right. We will let the facts and science tell us when we should start putting on concerts again. We recognize the experience at our venues will change when concerts start back up, and are working with medical experts and public health officials to implement safety precautions and protocols necessary for fans to return to enjoy our shows. Recent fan surveys indicate that the demand will be there when the shows return, with nearly 90% of fans expecting to attend concerts again once the pandemic is over. We expect the re-opening of concerts will happen on a market by market basis, and given we operate in 40 countries globally, the timelines will vary from starting now to not for several months or beyond.
While this disruption has had a material impact on our business, as the leading global live event and ticketing company we believe that we are well-positioned to provide the best service to artists, teams, fans and venues once business resumes. Twenty years of global growth demonstrates the resilience of fan demand for the live entertainment experience. We are actively taking steps to ensure that when the time is right for us to do so, we will be ready to ramp back up quickly and once again connect audiences to artists at the concerts they are looking forward to.
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