NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — Madison Square Garden Inc. reported strong financial results for their third quarter, with income nearly doubling in their media, sports and entertainment divisions, handily beating Wall Street Analysts predictions.
Madison Square Garden's third quarter 2010 revenues increased 18.0% to $190.8 million compared to the prior year period, primarily reflecting an increase in revenue in the company's MSG Media and MSG Entertainment segments.
Adjusted operating cash flow increased 35.2% to $42.3 million and operating income increased 120.6% to $26.3 million, as compared to the third quarter of 2009. On an overall basis, AOCF and operating income growth were primarily driven by higher MSG Media revenue and improved results in the MSG Entertainment segment.
Third quarter net income of $19.3 million increased $9.2 million compared to net income of $10.1 million in the prior year period. The increase in net income primarily reflects the growth in operating income discussed above.
Analysts polled by Thomson-Reuters on average anticipated earnings of $0.15 cents per share, well behind the $0.25 cents per share that the company reported for the quarter.
Madison Square Garden President and CEO Hank Ratner said: "Madison Square Garden continues to perform well on multiple fronts, with our strong third quarter results reflecting our continued operating momentum. We have more than doubled our adjusted operating cash flow over the first three quarters of 2010 and have grown our cash balance to over $325 million while continuing to fund the Arena Transformation project. In addition, we continue to experience success in developing world-class marketing partnerships which will contribute incremental revenues for each of our business segments, principally driven by the Transformation of Madison Square Garden." – Ian Courtney
