WWE Fourth Quarter 2015 Business Break Down

– Total Revenue: $166.2 million, up 18 percent from $140.5 million in Q4-2014.

Adjusted Business Profit was $11.1 million, doubling $5.1 million in Q4-2014 during the Network ramp-up phase.

– Domestic Revenue: $115.4 million (70 percent of the total), up 7.5 percent from $107.3 million in Q4-2014.

– International Revenue: $50.8 million (30 percent of the total), up 53 percent from $33.2 million in Q4-2014. This was mainly driven by the accessibility of WWE Network and “escalation of TV Rights Fees.”

Individual Business Segments

Media Division

– Total Revenue of $106.6 million (64 percent of total), up 19 percent from $89.5 million in Q4-2014.

Television Revenue was $55.6 million, up 10 percent from $50.5 million in Q4-2014 due the escalation of new TV deals.
Network Revenue was $37.2 million, up 60 percent from Q4-2014 during the ramp-up period.

Within the Network segment, PPV Revenue was $3.6 million. WWE counts both items within the Network segment for a total of $40.8 million.

Home Entertainment was only $2.6 million, down 67 percent from $7.8 million in Q4-2014. WWE was hit hard by a “decline in effective prices” to only $8.34 per unit sold.
Digital Media was $7.6 million, up 90 percent from $4.0 million in Q4-2014. The interesting thing is last year’s Digital Media segment lost revenue from people buying fewer PPVs on their website due to the Network switch-over. WWE said the number increased this year “primarily due to higher advertising revenues.”

– Profit was $41.0 million (38 percent profit margin), an improvement on $29.8 million (33 percent margin) in Q4-2014.

TV Profit was $23.3 million, an improvement on $18.9 million in Q4-2014.
Network Profit was $15.0 million, an improvement on $6.8 million in Q4-2014.
Home Entertainment Profit was minimal at $0.6 million compared to $4.6 million in Q4-2014.
Digital Media Profit was $2.1 million, compared to a net loss of $0.5 million in Q4-2014.

Live Events Division

– Total Revenue of $32.9 million (20 percent of total), up 22 percent from $26.9 percent in Q4-2014.

WWE noted higher average domestic ticket prices and higher attendance at international shows helped boost the revenue segment. The first NXT U.K. Tour helped internationally.

North American Live Event Revenue was $18.5 million, up 21 percent from Q4-2014. This was “driven by a 13 percent increase in the average effective ticket price.”

The avg. ticket price was $51.59
Average attendance was 6,300, an increase of 9 percent “in part due to the mix in venues.”

Int’l Live Event Revenue was $14.3 million, up 24 percent from Q4-2014.

Excluding the NXT tour, the avg. ticket price was $57.16, down 19 percent from Q4-2014, which “reflected changes in territory mix and unfavorable changes in foreign exchange rates.”
Average attendance was 7,800, up 31 percent from Q4-2014.

– Total Profit was $7.3 million, an improvement on $4.6 million in Q4-2014. The profit margin was 22 percent, compared to 17 percent in Q4-2014.

Consumer Products Division

– Total Revenue of $24.0 million (14 percent of total), up 18 percent from $20.4 million in Q4-2014.

Licensing Revenue was $9.6 million, up slightly from $9.1 million in Q4-2014.

Within the segment is WWE’s action figure business. WWE cited a survey from NPD Retail Group that “WWE maintained its strong position in the toy market with the third highest selling action figure property in the U.S.”

Venue Merchandise Revenue was $4.4 million, up from $3.6 million in Q4-2014. This was due to more big spenders in the audience at WWE shows, as per capita revenue increased six percent.
WWE Shop Revenue was $10.0 million, up 30 percent from last holiday season’s $7.7 million.

The number of orders increased 24 percent to 214,000
Spending increased, too. Revenue per order was $46.43, up three percent. WWE credited “enhanced product assortment and expanded distribution through Amazon.”

– Profit was $7.9 million, an improvement on $7.0 million in Q4-2014. The profit margin was 33 percent, slightly down from 34 percent in Q4-2014.

WWE Studios Division

– WWE Studios Revenue was $1.8 million, down from $2.9 million in Q4-2014.

WWE reported a net loss of $0.2 million, compared to $0.4 million in Q4-2014. WWE has not reported a net gain since the first quarter of 2014.

Other Segments

– WWE recorded $0.9 million in Corporate/Other Revenue to round out their total.

The related expenses were $25.0 million in Corporate Support and $27.1 million in Business Sport, for a total Corporate Expense of $52.0 million, an increase of 39 percent.

WWE attributed most of the increase to a $7.1 million impairment charge related to abandoning their media center project.

COMPARISON OF CHANGES

– In the Fourth Quarter 2015, WWE became even more top-heavy, as TV Revenue, WWE Network, and Live Events produced $129.3 million revenue (78 percent) of the total.

In the Fourth Quarter 2014, the top three segments produced $104.6 million (74 percent of the total).

– In Q4-2015, TV Rights and WWE Network alone produced $96.4 million (58 percent of total revenue in the quarter).

In Q4-2014, TV Rights & Network alone produced $77.7 million (55 percent of total revenue in the quarter).

– The ancillary business segments made up 22 percent of revenue in Q4-2015, versus 26 percent in Q4-2014.