Ticket Sales Partially Responsible For ISC's Income Decline In FY '10

ISC Thursday reported ’10 year-end results that showed a decline in net income driven by continued revenue declines due in part to significant decreases in ticket sales. Net income for the year ending Nov. 30, excluding discontinued operations, depreciation and other accounting methods, was approximately $73.2M, or $1.52 per share. That was down from $90.7M, or $1.86 per share, for the ’09 fiscal year. ISC Vice Chair & CEO Lesa France Kennedy said, "We do believe conditions are getting better. Most importantly, the fundamentals of our business remain sound." Ticket sales revenue in ‘10 dropped to $160.4M, an 18% decrease from the $195.5M generated in ‘09. Motorsports-related revenues declined by 2.6% to $420.9M and concession and merchandise revenues declined by 6.9% to $52.5M. ISC cut total expenses to $523.1M, a 4.1% decrease from ‘09. ISC President John Saunders: "We are still seeing challenges in consumer spending but remain encouraged by many corporate spending trends." Saunders said ISC will not adjust ticket prices in ‘11. Advance ticket sales for ‘11 Sprint Cup races at ISC tracks are 5-6% below ‘09 sales in both volume and revenue. The retention rate for season-ticket holders is in the 50 percentile range, Saunders said. Saunders: "We expect our customer to make purchasing decisions late in the buying cycle." ISC has five race entitlements open or not announced for Sprint Cup races this year, and four for Nationwide Series races. It had four and three open or not announced for those series, respectively, in ‘10. Saunders said sponsorship prices would be flat with ‘10. Saunders: "We have a lot of confidence these entitlements will get sold."