Faced with a sudden drop-off in key segments of its business, Live Nation Entertainment (LYV 2.36%) is planning on making significant reductions in spending. The company announced in a business update Monday that aims to reduce its costs by $500 million this year.
It is doing this, in part by "reducing advances in both its ticketing and concert businesses, reassessing all capital expenditure projects and evaluating all other cash deployment activities," it wrote in its announcement.
Live Nation's top executives are also taking salary cuts. CEO Michael Rapino is entirely foregoing his annual base pay of $3 million, while others have accepted 50% reductions.
These measures should lead to the elimination or deferment of $800 million in cash outflows next year, the company added.
Image source: Live Nation Entertainment.
As one of its core activities is live entertainment events involving large crowds, Live Nation's business is being severely restricted by stay-at-home measures now in force because of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic. Although there is a push to reopen at least some parts of the U.S. economy, some experts have said that mass events should be postponed until at least the fall of 2021.
In its update, Live Nation also detailed its latest financing measures. The company has established a new $120 million revolving credit facility. Combined with other debt facilities it has access to, it can now potentially draw $940 million in borrowings from such instruments.
It is not in dire financial straits at this moment. As of the end of February, the company's cash and cash equivalents totaled $3.3 billion. $914 million of this total consisted of cash.
Perhaps because of this, Live Nation's stock rose on Monday by nearly 3%. That bucked the trend of the wider equity market and numerous top stocks, which fell on the day.
