SMI’s year-end earnings report for ’18 confirmed there is still work to be done to stop NASCAR’s attendance slide. The track operator today reported total revenue was up but admissions revenue was down. SMI for the year took in $461.9M in total revenue, up $3.5M and 0.7% from $458.4M last year. Net income or profit was $40.4M versus $148.2M in ‘17 -- a gap explained largely by a major tax benefit SMI realized that year. However, while SMI saw boosts in its media-rights revenue among other streams, the key admissions revenue category was down $8.6M, or about 10%, from $86.9M in ’17 to $78.3M in ’18. As usual, SMI saw an increase in media-rights revenue of $7.4M or about 4%, from $209.2M to $216.6M. Event-related revenue, which includes items like merchandise sales and track rentals, was up for SMI by $6.6M or about 5%, from $133.6M to $140.2M, which SMI Vice Chair & CFO Bill Brooks attributed to higher sponsorship fees at some events as well as the race realignment that saw Las Vegas get a second race. SMI’s “Other Operating Revenue” stream, where it counts money from non-NASCAR activities, was off about 6%, from $28.6M to $26.8M. SMI’s direct expenses for events for ’18 went up by $2.9M or about 3%, due to higher costs associated with the Las Vegas realignment, constructing the new Roval circuit at Charlotte Motor Speedway and added man-hour costs resulting from delayed or postponed NASCAR races.
CHECKING IN: SMI also reported Q4 earnings today, but those became an apples-to-oranges comparison versus ‘17 due to schedule changes. SMI had $80.6M in cash and cash equivalents on its balance sheet in ’18, down about 2% from $81.9M last year. One positive is its long-term debt was down about 10% from $231M at the end of ’17 to $209M at the end of ’18.
LOOKING AHEAD: SMI says it is off to a good start in ‘19 from a sponsorship perspective, with all entitlements sold for Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races and just one remaining to be sold in both the Xfinity Series and Gander Outdoors Truck Series. Its revenue guidance for ’19 is $450-475M while net income is expected to be between $37-45M. It expects to spend $20-30M on renovations this year, compared to about $30M spent last year.
