Results Not Super at Marvel Publishing

-- Publishers Weekly, 8/5/2008 7:31:00 AM

Sales slipped 3% in Marvel’s publishing segment in the second quarter ended June 30, falling to $31.8 million. The company attributed the decline to a drop in sales through the direct (comic bookstore) channel and difficult comparisons to last year’s second quarter when trade paperback editions of Civil War sold well as did limited editions of the comic book series The Dark Tower and The Death of Captain America. Operating income also declined in the quarter, falling 3.3%, to $11.7 million. The decline was due to rising costs for “talent and paper,” Marvel said as well as digital investments. Marvel is investing $4 million in digital initiatives in the year.

For the first six months of 2008, earnings were off 17.5%, to $21.6 million, while revenue dipped 3.6%, to $58.3 million. For the full year, Marvel expects sales in the publishing group to be between $130 million and $135 million, with operating margins of  37% to 40%. In 2007, the publishing unit had sales of $125.7 million and margins of 42%.