Sales in Marvel’s publishing segment dipped 3% in the third quarter ended September 30, falling to $34.0 million. Operating income declined 15%, to $12.7 million. The revenue decline was due to lower sales of trade paperbacks and custom publishing titles that offset higher sales of traditional comics. Higher costs for “talent and paper” contributed to the decline in earnings as did continued investment in digital media projects.
For the first nine months, sales fell 3%, to $92.3 million, and profits were off 17%, to $34.3 million. For 2009, Marvel said it expects publishing sales to be between $125 million and $130 million with an operating margin of 34% to 37%. Earlier, Marvel said it expects sales in the publishing group to be between $130 million and $135 million, with operating margins of 37% to 40% in 2008. In 2007, the publishing unit had sales of $125.7 million and margins of 42%.
