ISC's Q1 Profits Fall 31% From '08, Causing Shares To Plummet

ISC yesterday released its Q1 earnings report, posting net income of $25.1M, or $0.52 per share, for the period ended February 28, down 31% from $36.2M, or $0.71 per share, for Q1 '08, according to the CHARLOTTE BUSINESS JOURNAL. Revenue also fell to $166.1M, compared to $193.9M for the year-ago period. ISC cited "macroeconomic challenges" for the decline. The racetrack owner said that it has "lowered ticket prices and worked with community partners to lower the cost of attending races to boost attendance" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 4/7). In Daytona Beach, Jim Witters reports yesterday's news sent ISC's "stock price plummeting," closing at $18.62, down $5.81. ISC's operating income for the quarter was $50M, down from $66.9M in the year-ago period. ISC Senior Dir of Corporate & Investor Communications Wes Harris said that advance ticket sales for NASCAR races are down about 15% this season. Harris: "People still want to go to the race. They may go to the big event, but they may not go to all the support events and spend as much on merchandise" (Daytona Beach NEWS-JOURNAL, 4/8). At presstime, shares of ISC were trading at $18.97, up 1.88% from yesterday's close of $18.62 (THE DAILY).

IN THE REPAIR SHOP: ISC estimates revenue will drop 8.5-11% this year compared to FY '08. ISC COO Dan Houser predicted that "admissions revenue and corporate-spending revenue ... could be down as much as 15[%], while food, beverage and merchandise could drop more than" 20% (SCENEDAILY.com, 4/7). ESPN’s David Newton said ISC officials "feel like that this is going to go on into 2010 and maybe things will turn around by then." Newton: "One of the more interesting things you should note is that a lot of  people are waiting until a few days before the race to buy their tickets, so that (makes) weather a big factor in this more than ever” (“NASCAR Now,” ESPN2, 4/7). ISC officials said that the company "took a number of steps in 2008 to reduce expenses and plans to continue to cut costs" during '09. ISC in November laid off about 50 employees, and in January "out-sourced its publications work to another company," which eliminated another five jobs. Meanwhile, ISC Exec VP John Saunders said that while company officials "remain interested in racetracks in Denver and in the Pacific Northwest, they are not committing any money to those" in '09. ISC still is constructing the Daytona Live entertainment complex, and the "big project ISC hopes to begin this year or early in 2010" is a casino development at Kansas Speedway (Daytona Beach NEWS-JOURNAL, 4/8).