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WWE $8.6 million net loss


moofasa

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WWE are set to record a loss of $8.6 million for the last quarter of 2011. Here is what I have found so far:

 

WWE announced revenues totaling $483.9 million for 2011, compared to $477.7 million the prior year. Operating income came in at $37 million, down from $82.3 million last year. WWE announced total revenue for $112.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2011, compared to $122.5 million in the prior year quarter.

 

 

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Vince McMahon hosted a conference call pertaining to the fourth quarter financial report that was released on February 23, 2012. The following are the highlights of the call.

 

-Michael Weitz opened the call.

 

-Vince McMahon said the company had "less than a stellar quarter." He placed some of the blame on the film division and television licensing. He recalled saying they wouldn't stay in the film division if their new plan of attack didn't work, but he said he still believes this new approach will work. He said the time is right to exploit their in-ring and out of the ring television licensing. He said there's never been a stronger demand for WWE product as there is right now.

 

-Vince mentioned WWE Superstars and NXT. He said no decision has been made as to whether to continue using those titles. He also recalled bringing back WWE Tough Enough. He said the Legends' House reality show is currently in production. He also mentioned the Youtube deal. "We have lots of products with WWE in a great deal of demand in every respect," Vince said.

 

-Vince touted the way they are "burning up social media." He said the brand is extremely strong.

 

-Vince brought up the live event attendance. He said that despite the economy, it's up seven percent from the quarter. He said live event revenue has always been a good barometer for the company.

 

-Vince spoke about breaking into new international markets and then turned over the call to CFO George Barrios, who ran through the financial report.

 

-Barrios noted that the company reported $4 million in money spent on the potential launch of WWE Network.

 

-Barrios ran through the pay-per-view numbers and noted that Survivor Series increased 15 percent.

 

-Revenues in the toy division were down 15 percent. Barrios noted that WWE ranks in the top five brands in the United States in toys, but the overall business is suffering.

 

-WWE website business was down 14 percent. Barrios cited declining ad revenue, and also noted that traffic was down 22 percent.

 

-The WWE Network costs were attributed mostly to the hiring of employees and recruitment costs.

 

-Barrios said he expects the 2012 earnings to be "in line" with the 2011 results. He said he expects the company to spend $15 to $20 million in network startup costs. Barrios ran through the social media numbers, Youtube content visitors, etc. as examples of why they feel the brand is strong.

 

-Michael Weitz opened up the conference for caller questions.

 

-The first caller asked about the WWE Network's launch date and what the company expects in terms of profits. Vince McMahon said they will launch this year, but he said there is no specific date. He said they are still in negotiations. "We're very bullish on the network," McMahon said. "We want to make sure we get it right when we launch."

 

-The caller asked about WrestleMania. Vince said the idea is to bring back some of the past superstars while showcasing some of the newer stars. He said the demand for WrestleMania has never been greater.

 

-The second caller asked about WWE officials expecting similar numbers in 2012 compared to 2011 and asked for more clarification. Barrios once again mentioned the $10 to $15 million in network startup costs and said he expected key areas to remain flat compared to the prior year.

 

-The caller asked whether there's a point when WWE will decide to get out of the film division. Vince said that they are using a different approach under new leadership while working with new partners. "We really think this is going to work," Vince said. He said he believes they'll have a really good idea. Vince said he doesn't think they'll get to the point that they'll give up on the films division because he believes in the new strategy. "But we're not going to know," Vince said. "There's no crystal ball here." He said they understand their content and their performers so it's logical to be in the film industry.

 

-The caller brought up the network. Vince said you don't want to launch a network without a major partner. He said it could take any number of forms and they're excited about all of those potential forms. Vince declined to say how many homes they expect the network to be in once it launches.

 

-Barrios confirmed that the company plans to spend between $15 and $25 million on the films division this year.

 

-The caller brought up NXT and Superstars and asked whether they are holding them back for the network or shopping them around. "Both," Vince said. He added that the demand for their product is so strong that they are looking at both options. Barrios pointed out that NXT and Superstars continue to earn revenue internationally.

 

-The caller asked whether Legends' House is being saved for the network or shopped to other networks. Vince confirmed that they are considering both options.

 

-The caller asked about the tenor of WWE Network discussions and whether they could give more timing information. Vince stood by his 2012 launch, but did not tease a date. "We feel strong about the network," Vince said.

 

-The caller asked where things stand in terms of hiring WWE Network's top management. Barrios said they've had 40 to 50 people join the company in the fourth quarter. He was asked whether they need to hire people outside the company who have cable and network experience. Barrios said they already have.

 

-The caller asked more about the films division expenses. Barrios clarified the $15 to $25 million is primarily for production expenses. He said they've averaged roughly $20 million per year in annual films division expenses.

 

-Barrios said the plan is to spend $15 to $20 million in production expenses for the network this year. He declined to comment more on the actual business model. He said they hope to be able to comment soon. "Please, please," the caller said. Barrios clarified that they have a good idea of the business model but are simply choosing not to unveil the details at this time.

 

-A third caller asked about the media production center expenses relating to the network. Barrios said that what they are spending today is related to creating more content and making their current content stronger. He said the media center expenses may not be known until the network is up and running.

 

-The caller asked about whether they intend to report the WWE Network financials separately. Barrios said there are a lot of FCC requirements and they will meet them. He said he expects there to be fundamental changes with the way the WWE financials are reported.

 

-Vince was asked how committed the board is to continuing to pay high dividends and where he stands on investing more money into growth versus paying dividends. Vince said he doesn't expect any changes at this time.

 

-Vince was asked about The Rock returning for WrestleMania. He said it's very exciting. He once again stressed the goal of also putting the spotlight on the younger talent.

 

-Michael Weitz closed out the questions and Vince thanked the listers to close out the call.

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For whats its worth, on paper $8+ million dollars will look bad, and most likely effect share prices etc, although regardless of that, they still made $400+ million dollars, so i'm fairly sure they arent that worried.

 

Is it a bad thing they lost money? Yes, and of course they will do whatever they can to work around that to hopfully start increasing money, but i doubt WWE or any body else is worried by this news, in the long term anyway.

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I hope no-one thinks "LOL WWE in trouble." They had a poor quarter, fine, but I'm sure there will be plenty in the coffers. This just means for one quarter, more went out than came in. I bet the balance sheet is very healthy.

 

Are TNA in profit at the moment?

 

They claim to have been running at an operating profit for a couple of years. Hope Panda have made their money back.

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I hope no-one thinks "LOL WWE in trouble." They had a poor quarter, fine, but I'm sure there will be plenty in the coffers. This just means for one quarter, more went out than came in. I bet the balance sheet is very healthy.

Especially when it seems they've been chucking a lot in to the Network. I'm not sure it's going to be the unqualified, roaring success that Vince expects. It'll help them for sure but Vince ain't the business man he quite thinks he is

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I hope no-one thinks "LOL WWE in trouble." They had a poor quarter, fine, but I'm sure there will be plenty in the coffers. This just means for one quarter, more went out than came in. I bet the balance sheet is very healthy.

Especially when it seems they've been chucking a lot in to the Network. I'm not sure it's going to be the unqualified, roaring success that Vince expects. It'll help them for sure but Vince ain't the business man he quite thinks he is

 

What are you chatting about? Vince is a phenomenal businessman. His problem, like many others, is that his efforts to diversify have not often been a success. In terms of his core business, he's a proven winner.

 

A while back (can't remember exactly when) there was information stating that WWE still had several hundred million in cash reserves so they're not about to go bankrupt anytime soon, although the simple rule of the city is that you have to reach projections. This loss seems to have come somewhat out of the blue (have they issued a profit warning this quarter?) meaning that their stock value and equity will take a hit, on top of them continuing to pay an inflated divided (funded by the aforementioned cash reserve). Not great, but to be expected. Considering it usually takes 2-3 years and significant investment to launch a successful network channel and gain a steady viewership this probably wont be the only loss quarter in the companies future.

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I hope no-one thinks "LOL WWE in trouble." They had a poor quarter, fine, but I'm sure there will be plenty in the coffers. This just means for one quarter, more went out than came in. I bet the balance sheet is very healthy.

Especially when it seems they've been chucking a lot in to the Network. I'm not sure it's going to be the unqualified, roaring success that Vince expects. It'll help them for sure but Vince ain't the business man he quite thinks he is

 

What are you chatting about? Vince is a phenomenal businessman. His problem, like many others, is that his efforts to diversify have not often been a success. In terms of his core business, he's a proven winner.

 

A while back (can't remember exactly when) there was information stating that WWE still had several hundred million in cash reserves so they're not about to go bankrupt anytime soon, although the simple rule of the city is that you have to reach projections. This loss seems to have come somewhat out of the blue (have they issued a profit warning this quarter?) meaning that their stock value and equity will take a hit, on top of them continuing to pay an inflated divided (funded by the aforementioned cash reserve). Not great, but to be expected. Considering it usually takes 2-3 years and significant investment to launch a successful network channel and gain a steady viewership this probably wont be the only loss quarter in the companies future.

 

Nail on head.

 

I think he falls victim of putting his trust in people in his team who don't know what they are doing though. WWE has struggled to keep up to date with trends, but not with everything. They clearly love Twitter for example, but sometimes i think some of these things are pulled off slightly wrong or lazy.

As mentioned in other threads, the computer games (THQ / yukes i believe) keep knocking shite games out and have done for a few years, this is obviously a personal opinion but i believe it is shared by many. I don't believe Vince honestly knows or understands this situation and i dare bet if he changed the developers and a much better game was released, sales would possibly rise.

He recently changed from JAKKS to Mattel for his action figures. He had been with JAKKS since 96 i believe and even stuck with them during lawsuits between each other (im guessing due to contracts). JAKKS got lazy and started knocking repainted figures out, people in collecting circles got a bit pissed off, in 2010 WWE moved to Mattel and from what i have heard, from 1st quater 2010 - 1st quater 2011 WWE's merch sales jumped from something like 40 million to 50 million.

 

Basically, fresh, change, new, can actually help to create profits as he has proven. The problem is, i believe he is so removed from those kind of things, he doesn't really notice 'when' is the time to change and whoever is in charge/management of particular departments, is off the boil.

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I hope no-one thinks "LOL WWE in trouble." They had a poor quarter, fine, but I'm sure there will be plenty in the coffers. This just means for one quarter, more went out than came in. I bet the balance sheet is very healthy.

Especially when it seems they've been chucking a lot in to the Network. I'm not sure it's going to be the unqualified, roaring success that Vince expects. It'll help them for sure but Vince ain't the business man he quite thinks he is

 

What are you chatting about? Vince is a phenomenal businessman. His problem, like many others, is that his efforts to diversify have not often been a success. In terms of his core business, he's a proven winner.

 

I meant in terms of that diversity as opposed to his core; I consider the Network to be closer to diversification than his core seems as it's a different approach to putting the content out there.

 

And I think it will be successful but just not quite as successful as Vince hopes or expects.

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