NEW YORK, Aug. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CKX, Inc. announced the filing of its quarterly report for the period ended June 30, 2008. For the six months ended June 30th, the Company reported revenue of $153.7 million, and OIBDAN (operating income before depreciation, amortization and non-cash compensation) of $59.2 million. For the six months ended June 30, 2007, CKX reported revenue and OIBDAN of $121.9 million and $36.6 million, respectively. Net income increased to $24.1 million in 2008 from $6.2 million in 2007. The increases in revenue, OIBDAN and net income over the prior year's six month period, reflect strong growth at the Company's American Idol and Elvis Presley businesses. For the purpose of this press release, OIBDAN has been calculated excluding costs incurred during the relevant periods related to the distribution by the Company of common stock of FX Real Estate and Entertainment, Inc. and the Company's proposed merger with 19X, Inc. In addition, the results do not include any amounts from the licensing arrangement between the Company's Elvis Presley and Muhammad Ali businesses and FX Real Estate and Entertainment. The Company received the initial minimum annual license fee payment attributable to 2007 of $10 million from FXRE in April 2008.
Commenting on the Company's performance, Robert F.X. Sillerman, the Company's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "The results for the second quarter, including the substantial year-over-year growth, particularly in what has been a difficult economic climate, evidence the strength of our core businesses, the soundness of our business strategy and the continued and growing popularity of the IDOLS franchise, Elvis Presley and our other assets."
The Company considers OIBDAN to be an important indicator of the operational strengths and performance of its businesses and the critical measure the chief operating decision maker (CEO) uses to manage and evaluate its businesses, including the ability to provide cash flows to service debt. However, a limitation of the use of OIBDAN as a performance measure is that it does not reflect the periodic costs of certain capitalized tangible and intangible assets used in generating revenue in our businesses or stock-based compensation expense. Accordingly, OIBDAN should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for, operating income (loss), net income (loss) and other measures of financial performance reported in accordance with US GAAP as OIBDAN is not a GAAP equivalent measurement.
About CKX, Inc.
CKX, Inc. is engaged in the ownership, development and commercial utilization of entertainment content. To date, the Company has focused on acquiring globally recognized entertainment content and related assets, including the rights to the name, image and likeness of Elvis Presley, the operations of Graceland, the rights to the name, image and likeness of Muhammad Ali and proprietary rights to the IDOLS television brand, including the American Idol series in the United States and local adaptations of the IDOLS television show format which, collectively, air in over 100 countries around the world. On June 1, 2007 CKX entered into a merger agreement with 19X, Inc., a private company owned and controlled by Mr. Sillerman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CKX, and Simon R. Fuller, a director of CKX and the Chief Executive Officer of 19 Entertainment Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CKX, that will result in the sale of CKX to 19X. For more information about CKX, Inc., visit its corporate website at http://www.ckx.com/.
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