Marvel released its Q4 and full year 2002 results on Monday, beating its own recently increased guidance, and raised its guidance for 2003. Marvel lost $45 million after its preferred stock dividend, beating the $50 million loss it predicted in its guidance issued only two months ago (see 'Marvel Ending 2002, Starting 2003 Strong'). Excluding one-time charges, primarily the costs associated with early pay-off of debt, Marvel would have made a $12 million net profit. Among the factors causing Marvel to exceed its recent guidance was the earlier recognition of $4.3 million in revenue from Spider-Man video/DVD sales.
Licensing continued to lead the way in Marvel's improved performance. Licensing revenues for the year were up 99% over 2001 figures. CEO Allen Lipson noted that over $2 billion retail worth of Marvel licensed products were sold in 2002, not including $1.4 billion in Spider-Man movie tickets and video/DVD sales.
Publishing was up 30% for the year, to $64.5 million. Q4 sales were up a smaller 9% over Q4 2001. Among the factors cited for the publishing improvement was growth in Marvel's gook sales, which contributed $15.5 million in sales vs. $5.3 million in 2001.
Toys were up about 69% for the full year vs. 2001 numbers, primarily due to Spider-Man movie toys.
Among other interesting tidbits in the release (the full annual report has yet to be released) was the news that Q4 results included $4.4 million in reserves for estimated settlement values for three litigation matters. One lawsuit in which Marvel is involved is a class action suit brought by retailer Brian Hibbs over Marvel's failure to take returns on late books (see 'Retailer Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Marvel').