WWE® Reports 2012 Second Quarter Results
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contacts: Investors: Michael Weitz 203-352-8642 Media: Tara Carraro 203-352-8625 WWE® Reports 2012 Second Quarter Results STAMFORD, Conn., August 2, 2012 - WWE (NYSE:WWE) today announced financial results for its second quarter ended June 30, 2012. Revenues totaled $141.6 million as compared to $142.6 million in the prior year quarter. Operating income was $19.6 million as compared to $21.0 million in the prior year quarter. Net income was $11.9 million, or $0.16 per share, as compared to $14.3 million, or $0.19 per share, in the prior year quarter. There were several items that impacted comparability on a year-over-year basis, including expenses incurred in conjunction with our potential network in the current quarter and film impairments in the prior year quarter. Excluding the impact of these items, Adjusted Operating income declined 12% to $21.3 million from $24.3 million in the prior year quarter. Adjusted Net income was $13.1 million, or $0.17 per share, as compared to $16.5 million, or $0.22 per share, in the prior year quarter. “In the second quarter, we made important progress on our key strategic initiatives, expanding our content and distribution and enhancing our brand strength,” stated Vince McMahon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “The production and licensing of a third hour of Raw and the launch of a new program, WWE Main Event, for ION Television, as well as our exploding social media presence which now reaches over 100 million global fans, exemplify our achievement of these goals. In order to cultivate further the unique passion of our global fans, we continued to integrate social media in our program content and entered a strategic investment agreement with Tout, which enables users to capture and share 15-second videos. Integrating our fans' voice in our programming enables us to escalate fan interaction, enhance our programming content, and drive the value of our investment.” “Our results were highlighted by the strong performance of our pay-per-view business, which offset an anticipated decline in video game sales,” added George Barrios, Chief Financial Officer. “Key audience measures, including a 17% increase in pay-per-view buys and the attraction of 6 million viewers to our 1,000th episode of Raw in July demonstrate our staying power and our continuing ability to build consumer interest. Based on our earnings growth in the first half of the year and the recent positive trends in our pay-per-view business, we are raising our financial forecast for the full year. We expect that our 2012 earnings, measured by either earnings per share, or EBITDA, will be roughly 5% to 15% above our 2011 results on an “as reported” basis.” Comparability of Results Our current year quarter results included $1.7 million in network-related operating expenses. Prior year quarter results included impairment charges of $3.3 million, related to our film That's What I Am. In order to facilitate an analysis of our financial results on a more comparable basis, where noted, we have adjusted our results to exclude these items from our results. (See Schedules of Adjustments in Supplemental Information). Three Months Ended June 30, 2012 - Results by Business Segment Revenues from North America increased 2%, primarily driven by the performance of WrestleMania and our Pay- Per-View business. Revenues from outside North America declined 8% due to a decrease in our Live Events and Consumer Products businesses. The following tables reflect net revenues by region and by segment (in millions): Three Months Ended June 30, June 30, 2012 2011 Net Revenues By Region: North America $ 105.3 $ 103.0 Europe/Middle East/Africa 24.2 26.0 Asia Pacific 8.4 8.3 Latin America 3.7 5.3 Total net revenues $ 141.6 $ 142.6 Three Months Ended June 30, June 30, 2012 2011 Net Revenues By Segment: Live and Televised Entertainment $ 117.1 $ 110.5 Consumer Products 16.1 21.6 Digital Media 7.8 6.2 WWE Studios 0.6 4.3 Total net revenues $ 141.6 $ 142.6 Live and Televised Entertainment Revenues from our Live and Televised Entertainment businesses increased 6% to $117.1 million driven by $6.4 million in incremental Pay-Per-View revenue from events, including WrestleMania. Compared to the prior year event, WrestleMania XXVIII contributed $5.3 million in additional ticket, merchandise and pay-per-view revenue, which is included in the Live and Televised Entertainment business segment. • Live Event revenues were $35.4 million as compared to $35.2 million in the prior year quarter as the strong performance of WrestleMania was offset by lower attendance and ticket sales from our events in international markets. • There were 87 total events, including 57 events in North America and 30 events in international markets, in both the current and prior year quarters. • North American events generated revenues of $22.3 million as compared to $20.6 million in the prior year quarter, representing revenue growth of $1.7 million that was predominantly due to a 28% increase in the average ticket price at WrestleMania and an 8% increase in the paid attendance at that event. Overall, including the impact of WrestleMania, average attendance at the events in North America declined 3% to approximately 6,400 from 6,600 in the prior year quarter while the average ticket price for these events increased 15% to $56.72 from $49.26 in the prior year quarter. Excluding WrestleMania, average attendance declined approximately 4% to 5,400 and the average ticket price increased approximately 4% to about $41. 2 • International events generated revenues of $13.1 million as compared to $14.6 million in the prior year quarter. The 10% decline in international event revenue was driven by declines in both average ticket price and average attendance. The average ticket price for our international events fell 7% to $63.47 and average attendance declined 6% to 6,200 from 6,600 fans in the prior year quarter. These changes were due to the weak attendance at our events in Mexico and to changes in territory mix, as we held our first live event in Brazil, a market with long-term strategic importance to WWE. Average attendance at our events in Latin America declined approximately 60% to 4,200 fans while the average ticket price for these events declined approximately 15% to $45.03. • Pay-Per-View revenues were $40.8 million as compared to $34.4 million in the prior year quarter. Revenue increased 19% reflecting a 17% increase in buys for our second quarter events. WrestleMania XXVIII accounted for approximately 60% of this revenue growth with a 15% increase in buys. Revenue from the three other events in the quarter increased 28% based on a combined 20% increase in buys and a 6% increase in the average revenue per buy. The rise in revenue per buy was attributable to higher retail prices charged for viewing our events in high definition. The details for the number of buys (in 000s) are as follows: Three Months Ended Broadcast June 30, June 30, Month Events (in chronological order) 2012 2011 April WrestleMania XXVIII 1,217 1,059 May Extreme Rules™ 263 209 May Over The Limit™ 167 140 June No Way Out / WWE Capitol Punishment™ 194 170 Prior events 56 20 Total 1,897 1,598 • Television Rights Fees revenues were $32.4 million as compared to $32.0 million in the prior year quarter. This increase was primarily due to improved terms and contractual increases from our existing programs, partially offset by the absence of rights fees for our WWE Superstars program. • Venue Merchandise revenues were $5.4 million as compared to $6.3 million in the prior year quarter, primarily due to the timing of our Fan Axxess events, which are scheduled in conjunction with WrestleMania. Based on the number of days within the quarter that preceded WrestleMania, there were two Fan Axxess event sessions in the current year quarter compared to six event sessions in the prior year quarter. Total paid attendance and sales per capita at our North American events were essentially unchanged from the prior year quarter. Consumer Products Revenues from our Consumer Products businesses decreased 25% to $16.1 million from $21.6 million in the prior year quarter, primarily due to a decline in Licensing revenue, with one fewer video game release in the current quarter. • Home Video net revenues were $7.8 million as compared to $7.5 million in the prior year quarter. The 4% increase in revenue was primarily due to the recognition of minimum guarantees from our international licensing activities. Domestic home video revenue was essentially unchanged from the prior year quarter. In the current year quarter, a 9% decline in shipments to 837,200 units and a 3% decline in average price per unit to $12.16 were offset by improved sell-through rates, primarily from our prior period releases. Estimated home video returns decreased to 39% of gross retail revenue as compared to 41% in the second quarter last year. 3 • Licensing revenues were $6.6 million as compared to $12.0 million in the prior year quarter. The 45% decline was primarily due to a $4.6 million reduction in video game sales with one fewer release, WWE All Stars, in the period. WWE All Stars was released in March 2011 and will not be refreshed in the current year. Additionally, royalties from the sale of toys declined 12%, or $0.4 million, with lower associated promotion and retail support.