Publishing Results Drop at Marvel
-- Publishers Weekly, 11/3/2009 8:14:00 AM
Marvel Enterainment announced this morning that sales in its publishing segment fell 6% in the third quarter ended September 30, to $48.9 million. Operating income declined 19.7%, to $10.2 million. The company attributed the sale decline to lower custom-publishing revenue plus a drop in advertising, partially offset by a $1.6 million increase in sales to the book market. An increase in talent costs plus the decrease in custom publishing, which carries higher margins, were cited as the reasons behind the profit decline. For the first nine months of 2009, publishing revenue fell 3%, to $89.5 million, and operating income was off 18.8%, to $28.2 million.Earlier this year Marvel agreed to be acquired by Disney in a deal the company said it still expects to close before the end of the year.
