More on WWE’s year end financial results

Feb 13, 2015 - by Steve Gerweck

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WWE ANNOUNCES Q4 2014 AND YEAR END FINANCIAL RESULTS
– WWE today announced its 2014 Q4 and year end results with revenues for
the quarter increasing 19% to $140.5 million from $118.4 million in the
fourth quarter last year. For the quarter, the Company reported a Net loss
of $1.6 million, or $0.02 loss per share, as compared to a Net loss of
$7.9 million, or $0.10 loss per share, in the prior year quarter. The
revenue increase was driven by the Network and television rights fees.
“During the quarter, we remained focused on growing WWE Network, which
surpassed 1 million subscribers in January 2015, just 11 months after
launch. Subscriber growth was driven by a successful free November
promotion, the launch of the service in the UK and the strength of our
Royal Rumble event,” stated Vince McMahon, Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer. “We believe that our 2015 road map provides significant
opportunities for growth, as we continue to execute well, innovate faster
and expand WWE Network, the single greatest opportunity to transform
WWE’s business model.” The full results can be read at here.

> REVENUE FOR EACH WWE BUSINESS BY DEPARTMENT FOR Q4 2014
– With the earnings release comes the department numbers which shows which
WWE businesses are doing well and those which are not doing so well. The
below numbers are all compared to the same quarter of the prior year apart
from the WWE Network which obviously was not launched back then. Those who
are in the black: WWE Network generated $23.3 million in revenue;
Television revenues increased 20% to $50.5 million; Home Entertainment
increased to $7.8 million from $5.1 million; Live events increased 6% to
$26.9 million thanks to higher attendance and a few more events in the
quarter; Licensing increased 26% to $9.1 million due to WWE video games;
Venue merchandise was up 6% to $3.6 million from $3.4 million; WWEShop.com
also increased, up 28% to $7.7 million up from $6.0 million and a 39%
increase in orders. Those who are in the red: Pay-per-view revenue did
$3.9 million with 271,000 buys for three events, down 62% due to the WWE
Network; Digital Media went down to $4.0 million from $7.0 million due to
lower advertising; WWE Studios went down to $2.9 million from $5.0 million.

(Thanks to Colin Vassallo)

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