Marvel Entertainment Inc.’s fourth-quarter net income more than doubled on soaring revenue from its film-making unit and strength in its publishing business.
The comic-book maker wrapped up its first year of producing its own films, taking all the profits instead of just licensing fees.
For the year’s final quarter, the company posted net income of $63 million, or 80 cents a share, up from $27.6 million, or 35 cents a share, a year earlier. Net sales more than doubled to $224.3 million, driven by the recognition of $135.5 million at the film-production segment from the DVD release of “Iron Man,” the company’s first in-house movie.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of 71 cents on revenue of $215 million.
Marvel’s licensing business, an increasing area of focus for the company, saw earnings fall 22% amid a 27% sales drop. Marvel said revenue was better than expected and noted that the year-earlier results were boosted by the May 2007 theatrical release of “Spider-Man 3.”
The publishing unit posted a 5.7% increase in earnings as revenue gained 9.2% amid an extra week of sales and several high-profile titles being released.
Earlier this month, the company signed a deal to extend Hasbro Inc.’s rights to make toys and games based on new Marvel and Columbia Pictures movies and Marvel’s portfolio of superheroes through 2017. The extension guarantees $100 million in royalties, with the possibility of $140 million more with the release of new films.
- Wall Street Journal
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