Madison Square Garden Q2 Profit Up 29%, Results Beat View

(RTTNews) - Madison Square Garden Co. (MSG) on Friday reported a 29 percent increase in profit for the second quarter from last year, as the company's results benefited from the return of the National Hockey League to a full regular season. Both revenue and earnings per share for the quarter beat analysts' expectations.

Madison Square Garden operates in the sports, entertainment, and media businesses. The company owns the New York Knicks and New York Rangers, among other sports teams, and runs venues including Madison Square Garden and the Beacon Theatre.

Hank Ratner, President and CEO of Madison Square Garden said, "Our Company delivered solid increases in total company revenues and AOCF in the second quarter, as we benefited from the return to a full NHL regular season, the continued positive impact of the Transformation project and improvement in our entertainment business."

Ratner added, "At the same time, we're approaching the end of a significant capital investment cycle for our Company with the successful completion of two important milestones - the October debut of the fully transformed Madison Square Garden Arena, followed by the January re-opening of the reinvented Forum in Inglewood, California."

The New York-based company's net income for the second quarter was $60.51 million or $0.77 per share, up from $46.91 million or $0.60 per share in the year-ago period. On average, eleven analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.67 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

The comparability of the latest quarter's results to the prior-year quarter was significantly impacted by last year's NHL work stoppage, which delayed the start of the 2012-13 regular season by about three months to January 19, 2013 and led to a shortened 48-game regular season.

In addition, MSG Networks, which serves as the local broadcast home to four NHL teams, did not broadcast NHL regular season games in the year-ago quarter versus broadcasting a combined 154 games in the latest quarter.

Revenues for the quarter grew 31 percent to $509.38 million from $387.89 million in the year-ago period. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $497.34 million for the quarter.

The company noted that all three of its business segments delivered increased revenues, partly offset by an increase in inter-segment eliminations.

Revenue at MSG Media segment for the quarter increased 15 percent year-over-year to $180.71 million.

Of this, affiliation fee revenue increased $22.2 million, primarily due to a return to a full NHL regular season schedule, and to a lesser extent, higher affiliation rates. Advertising revenue increased $5.9 million, primarily due to the return to a full NHL regular season schedule, partially offset by other net advertising revenue decreases.

MSG Sports revenue more than doubled from the year-ago period to $183.39 million, primarily due to the return of the New York Rangers to a full regular season schedule. In addition, segment revenues were positively impacted by the continued benefits of the Transformation project.

MSG Entertainment revenues rose 8 percent to $163.10 million, primarily due to higher revenues for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular franchise, higher event-related revenues at the Beacon Theatre and The Theater at Madison Square Garden, as well as higher venue-related sponsorship and signage and suite rental fee revenues.

In Friday's regular session, MSG is trading at $58.70, up $0.14 or 0.24 percent on a volume of 109,179 shares.