ISC this morning refused to address the proposed NASCAR merger during its Q4/year-end earnings call, but the company did reveal a balance sheet that was bolstered by TV revenue but showed continued attendance erosion. ISC President John Saunders started off the call by saying that ISC had no intention on commenting on NASCAR’s proposed $1.9B bid to acquire ISC; this was the first earnings call since the proposal was announced in November. On the earnings front, total revenue for the year was up 1%, from $671.4M to $675M, boosted by contractually obligated media rights increases. In-person admissions revenue was down about 10% from $121M to $110M. The revenue stream that includes TV money was up 3% from $492M to $509M. Food/beverage/merchandise was down 13% from $41.3M to $35.7M. Net income or profit for ’18 was $225M, up around 100% from $111M in ’17. That increase was attributable in part to the much lower corporate income tax rate the company now pays. For ’19, ISC has projected revenue of $685-705M, which it attributes to an increase in media rights dollars and starting to see returns on renovation projects at tracks including Richmond, Talladega and ISM Raceway, as well as the $150M OneDaytona mixed-use development. Shares of ISC were trading down by 2% as of presstime at $43.25.
