UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Date of Report: (Date of earliest event reported): July 29, 2003
MARVEL ENTERPRISES, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Delaware 001-13638 13-3711775
(State or other jurisdiction of (Commission file number) (I.R.S. Employer
incorporation or organization) Identification No.)
10 East 40th Street, New York, New York 10016
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip code)
(212) 576-4000
(Registrant's telephone number, including area code)
Item 7. Financial Statements and Exhibits.
(c) Exhibits.
99.1 Press release of the Registrant dated July 29, 2003.
Item 12. Results of Operations and Financial Condition.
(a) On July 29, 2003, the Registrant issued a press release, a copy of
which is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1, announcing certain matters
regarding its results of operations and financial condition for its
second fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2003.
EXHIBIT INDEX
Exhibit No. Description
99.1 Press release of the Registrant dated July 29, 2003.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
MARVEL ENTERPRISES, INC.
By: /s/ Allen S. Lipson
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Name: Allen S. Lipson
Title: President and Chief Executive Officer
Date: August 4, 2003
[LOGO OMITTED]
MARVEL Q2 RESULTS WILL EXCEED HIGH END
OF ORIGINAL GUIDANCE RANGES
- Cash Rose to $144 million at June 30 vs. $84.7 million at March 31 -
NEW YORK, NY July 29, 2003 -- Marvel Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE:MVL) announced
today that, based on preliminary figures, it will exceed the high end of
financial guidance for revenue, EBITDA(1), Net Income, EPS and Free Cash Flow(2)
for Q2 2003. The Q2 2003 performance reflects strength across its entire
licensing business including the strong sales performance of licensed products
based on its The Incredible Hulk character.
Marvel will report Q2 results, revised 2003 guidance and initial 2004 guidance
on August 12. Please refer to Marvel's Q2 financial guidance, as reported in our
release on May 6:
http://www.marvel.com/about/pr/archive/050603_Marvel_q1_release.pdf
Cash Levels Continue to Grow: - Marvel also announced today that, reflecting
solid levels of cash collection year-to-date, its cash balance as of June 30,
2003 had grown to $144 million, versus approximately $85 million in cash as of
March 31, 2003. With total long-term debt consisting of $151 million in 12%
Senior Notes, Marvel's net debt position is $7 million as of June 30, 2003
versus $66.3 million as of March 31, 2003. The Notes are callable at Marvel's
option beginning June 15, 2004 at a price of $106 per $100 principal amount, for
a total consideration of approximately $160 million.
Kenneth West, Executive Vice President and CFO, commented: "Marvel's growing
cash balance reflects the continued strength of our entertainment licensing
business model that focuses on the generation of free cash flow."
Hulk Licensing Franchise off to Strong Start: Marvel's Hulk property, which last
month was identified as the number one hot license for kids in a preview for the
Licensing Show 2003, has firmly established itself as a powerful entertainment
licensing franchise based on strong retail sales of Hulk-branded products,
particularly in several key license categories such as toys, video games,
domestics and children's apparel. The Hulk licensing program has roughly 300
licensees, encompassing over 1,000 products, with many of the licensees expected
to report revenues in excess of the initial minimum guarantees.
Serving as the global catalyst and backdrop for the Hulk licensing program was
the June 20th launch of Universal Picture's The Hulk feature film which has
grossed in excess of $200 million in worldwide box office receipts in over 28
countries to date(3). The film remains in theaters in the U.S. and around the
world, and premieres of The Hulk in international markets including Japan, Italy
and a few others are still to come later this summer.
Alan Fine, CEO of Toy Biz, Marvel's in-house toy division, commented: "Sales of
licensed Electronic Hulk Hands continue to exceed all of our expectations for
this role-playing toy, both in units sold and retail dollars. With purchase
orders surpassing the 3.5 million Spider-Man web-blaster units sold in 2002,
Electronic Hulk Hands have already become the largest toy success in company
history. Coming on the heels of last year's success with Spider-Man, we have
demonstrated that we can translate our brands into powerful toy franchises,
which have strengthened our relationships with key retail outlets."
Hulk action figures and accessories are created in-house by Marvel's Toy Biz
division and manufactured and sold by Marvel's master toy licensee pursuant to a
July 2001 license agreement. Royalties based on sales of The Hulk toys are
recorded in Marvel's licensing division, and Marvel is reimbursed for its
product development and marketing and sales efforts.
Russ Brown, Executive Vice President Consumer Products, Promotions & Retail
Sales commented: "Sales of products based on The Hulk have been extremely strong
in the toy, video game, domestics and children's apparel categories. These
categories are some of the most influential, both in terms of sales dollars and
brand support for other licensing categories. We consider the continued success
of Hulk products in these categories to be proof of the Hulk's emergence as a
major "evergreen" licensed property."
Sales of Hulk video games, which are sold by Vivendi Universal Games, have
exceeded Marvel's internal expectations for the product. The video game
continues to sell well across all four video game platforms and is in the top
five in sales of video games for the PC, PlayStation 2, X-Box, GameCube and Game
Boy Advance platforms.
(1) EBITDA is defined as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and
amortization and cumulative effect of changes in accounting principle.
(2) Free cash flow is defined as operating income plus depreciation and
amortization less increases (plus decreases) in working capital, capital
expenditures, cash interest and cash income taxes.
(3) Worldwide Box Office estimates are from www.boxofficemojo.com site and
include domestic box office proceeds through the week ending July 27 and
international box office proceeds through the week ending July 20, 2003.
About Marvel Enterprises
Marvel Enterprises, Inc. is leading global character-based entertainment
licensing company that has developed and owns a library of over 4,700 characters
which have entertained generations around the world for over 60 years. Marvel's
operations are focused in entertainment and consumer product licensing and comic
book publishing. Marvel's creative teams at its Marvel Studios, Marvel Comics
and Toy Biz divisions support the development of feature films (and DVD/video),
video games, TV series and toy lines based on its characters. Marvel also
licenses its characters for use in a broad and growing range of consumer
products and services including apparel, collectibles, food and promotions.
Marvel Comics is a leading global comics publisher and an invaluable source of
intellectual property; Marvel Studios works with studios to develop feature film
and entertainment projects; and Toy Biz is a recognized leader in toy design,
sales and marketing that develops and oversees both licensee and in-house toy
lines. For additional information visit http://www.marvel.com.
Except for any historical information that they contain, the statements in this
news release regarding Marvel's plans are forward-looking statements that are
subject to certain risks and uncertainties, including a decrease in the level of
media exposure or popularity of Marvel's characters, financial difficulties of
Marvel's licensees, changing consumer preferences, movie- and
television-production delays and cancellations, toy-production delays or
shortfalls, continued concentration of toy retailers, toy inventory risk, the
imposition of quotas or tariffs on products manufactured in China and a decrease
in cash flow even as Marvel remains indebted to its noteholders. These and other
risks and uncertainties are described in Marvel's filings with the Securities
and Exchange Commission, including Marvel's Annual Reports on Form 10-K,
Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K. Marvel assumes
no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements.
# # #
For further information contact:
Matt Finick Richard Land, David Collins
Marvel Enterprises Jaffoni & Collins
212/576-4035 212/835-8500
mfinick@marvel.com mvl@jcir.com
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