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Marvel Beats earnings by 40% and maintains 2007 guidance. 
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Press ReleaseSource: Marvel Entertainment, Inc.
Marvel Reports 2006 EPS of $0.67
Monday February 26, 6:33 am ET - Maintains Upper End of 2007 EPS Guidance Range at $1.55 and Adjusts Low End to $1.30, to Reflect Higher Effective Tax Rate - - Marvel's First Self-Produced Feature Film, Iron Man, Scheduled to Begin Principal Photography on March 12 - Marvel will host a webcast today for all investors at 9:00 a.m. EST available at: www.Marvel.com/webcasts or www.earnings.com
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Marvel Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: MVL - News), a global character-based entertainment and licensing company, today reported operating results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2006.
For Q4 2006, Marvel reported net income of $11.7 million, or $0.14 per diluted share, net of a $0.6 million, or $0.01 per diluted share, charge for FAS 123R stock option-based payments. For the twelve months ended December 31, 2006 Marvel reported net income of $58.7 million, or $0.67 per diluted share, net of a $3.5 million, or $0.04 per diluted share, charge for FAS 123R stock option-based payments. These results compare to net income of $25.9 million, or $0.26 per diluted share, and net income of $102.8 million, or $0.97 per diluted share, in the year-ago fourth quarter and full year 2005, respectively, which did not include any share-based payment expense. Marvel Entertainment, Inc. Segment Net Sales/Operating Income (in Millions)---------------------------------------------------------------------- Three Months Ended Twelve Months Ended 12/31/06 12/31/05 12/31/06 12/31/05----------------------------------------------------------------------Licensing: Net Sales $25.5 $81.7 $127.2 $230.1---------------------------------------------------------------------- Operating Income (1) 14.5 55.4 76.1 143.4----------------------------------------------------------------------Publishing: Net Sales 28.6 23.4 108.5 92.4---------------------------------------------------------------------- Operating Income 11.6 8.6 44.1 36.4----------------------------------------------------------------------Toys: Net Sales 31.1 12.0 116.1 68.0---------------------------------------------------------------------- Operating Income (2) 6.5 (12.5) 21.1 15.5----------------------------------------------------------------------Film Production: Operating Costs (3) (1.5) 0.0 (6.0) 0.0----------------------------------------------------------------------Corporate Overhead: (4.7) (6.7) (22.7) (24.1)---------------------------------------------------------------------- TOTAL NET SALES $85.2 $117.1 $351.8 $390.5---------------------------------------------------------------------- TOTAL OPERATING INCOME $26.4 $44.8 $112.6 $171.2----------------------------------------------------------------------(1) The 2005 twelve-month period includes the impact of a $10 million, one-time charge related to the settlement of litigation with Stan Lee.(2) The 2005 three and twelve-month periods include the impact of a $12.5 million, one-time charge related to the early termination of a license agreement with Toy Biz Worldwide.(3) These costs principally consist of compensation related to personnel devoted to the Company's film production efforts, which efforts commenced late in the fourth quarter of 2005.
Marvel's Chairman, Morton Handel, commented, "We are pleased with the strong cash flows generated by our operations during 2006, a transitional year for the Company. Reflecting the unique strengths of our intellectual property assets and business model, in 2006 Marvel generated approximately $158 million in operating cash flow, inclusive of $15 million spent on pre-production for future feature film slate productions.
"We remain optimistic about the outlook for 2007 and beyond. 2007 has three feature films produced in conjunction with studio partners including Ghost Rider, which easily captured the #1 spot in its opening and second weekends and set an all-time domestic box office record for President's Day weekend. Ghost Rider has achieved total domestic box office receipts of over $76 million since its February 16th release and worldwide box office of approximately $95 million. We believe Ghost Rider's performance highlights the power of the Marvel brand and consumer demand for films based on our comic book characters. Later this year, we should benefit from high-profile sequels to our Spider-Man and Fantastic 4 movie franchises. Operating results in 2007 should also benefit from strong contributions from Marvel-branded toys distributed by Hasbro. "We are pleased to announce that we intend to launch the next stage of our evolution as a global entertainment company by commencing principal photography on our Iron Man film on March 12th. The profile of the Iron Man character and the Marvel brand have been instrumental in attracting top-tier talent to this project. Later this year, we also plan to commence principal photography on our second self-produced feature film, The Incredible Hulk. With both of these movies scheduled for summer 2008 release and work on other Marvel-produced films also underway, future growth prospects for Marvel are strong."