Charlie Brown and his crew have a new home. Iconix Brand Group Inc., parent company of Zoo York, Op, and ecko to name a few, announced that it has purchased the rights to the late Charles Schulz’s Peanuts and that first quarter earnings soared 58 percent in 2010.
In the quarter ended March 31, Iconix earned $24.8 million, or 33 cents a share, up from earnings of $15.6 million, or 26 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue rose 42 percent to $71.7 million from $50.5 million.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of 31 cents per share on revenue of $62.5 million.
Iconix also increased its full-year 2010 revenue guidance to $305 million to $315 million, up from $260 million to $270 million following the news that it is acquiring the rights to Peanuts for $175 million in cash from E.W. Scripps Co.
According to Bloomberg:
Iconix and the Schulz family will pay $175 million for the Peanuts comic-strip characters and other assets, with the New York-based company acquiring 80 percent from United Features Syndicate Inc. and E.W. Scripps Co. The deal includes character brands Dilbert and Fancy Nancy, said Iconix, which owns and markets consumer brands.
The acquisition is part of a strategy to add more revenue outside of the company’s fashion labels, which include Candie’s and London Fog. Peanuts, with its cast of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy and the gang, is licensed in more than 40 countries and generates annual retail sales of more than $2 billion.
“This acquisition represents a healthy departure, in our view, from the traditional fashion brands that Iconix has previously purchased,” Todd Slater, an analyst at Lazard Capital Markets in New York, wrote in a note. He recommends buying Iconix shares.
TAGS: charlie brown, ecko, Ed Hardy, iconix, iconix brand group, Op, snoopy, zoo york
