Details of WWE’s Q3 financial results

Nov 2, 2012 - by Steve Gerweck

– WWE today announced financial results for its third quarter ended
September 30, 2012. Revenues totaled $104.2 million as compared to $108.5
million in the prior year quarter. Operating income was $5.0 million as
compared to $15.9 million in the prior year quarter. Net income was $3.5
million as compared to $10.6 million in the prior year quarter. Excluding
items that impacted comparability on a year-over-year basis, Adjusted
Operating income was $7.1 million as compared to $21.0 million in the
prior year quarter, and Adjusted Net income was $5.0 million as compared
to $14.1 million. “In the third quarter, we continued to make 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 new
programs, including a third hour of Raw, the WWE Main Event and WWE
Saturday Morning Slam, as well as the development of online distribution
on Hulu Plus exemplify our achievement of these goals. The performance of
our new programs, which have attracted an average audience 14% to 50%
higher than the viewership of the programs they replaced, demonstrate our
ability to build consumer interest, which forms the foundation of our
proposed WWE Network.”

– Six of the ten departments within WWE registered a loss of revenue
compared to the same quarter last year while the remaining four
departments generated an increase. In the good department, Pay-per-view
went up to $16.3 million versus $15.8 million as last year thanks to
SummerSlam; TV revenues were $34 million, on par with the figure of last
year; Venue merchandise increased from $3.6 million of last year to $4.5
million; and WWE.COM was up from $3.7 million to $4.8 million. Over in the
not so good section, live event revenues totaled $22.8 million compared
to $23 million in the prior year quarter; Home video decreased from $8.3
million from last year to $6.4 million; Licensing also took a hit with
revenues of $7.1 million versus $9 million last year; Magazine publishing
continued its downward spiral from $1.9 million to $1.6 million;
WWEShop.com revenues declined to $2.7 million from $3.2 million; and WWE
Studios did $1.9 million in revenue compared to last year’s $3.7 million.

– Only Money In The Bank performed worse than last year in the past
quarter as far as pay-per-view numbers go with SummerSlam and Night of
Champions both registering a nice increase in total buys. The July Money
In The Bank show did 188,000 buys this year compared to the 195,000 of
last year. SummerSlam in August did 358,000 with Lesnar vs HHH as the main
event compared to 296,000 of last year. In September, Night of Champions
had 189,000 buys, an increase of 28,000 buys from last year’s show.
Pay-per-views was one of the only four key departments that registered an
increase in the last quarter for the company. “Our fundamental operating
metrics showed continued strength. Average attendance increased 6% at our
live events in North America and Pay-Per-View buys increased 13% for the
three comparable events in the quarter,” said George Barrios, Chief
Financial Officer.

(thanks to Colin Vassallo)



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