TKO Group Posts Higher-Than-Anticipated Income In Q1, However UFC Authorized Settlement Places Squeeze On Revenue

TKO Group Holdings posted better-than-anticipated income however noticed a March antitrust settlement with UFC fighters squeeze its backside line.

The corporate, fashioned by the merger of WWE and UFC final September, is run by Endeavor Group Holdings. Endeavor just lately unveiled a plan to go personal, which can make TKO the one public window onto the actions of Ari Emanuel & Co. as soon as the privatization closes. Endeavor didn’t conduct an earnings name after the discharge of its fourth quarter leads to February. It’s scheduled to report new quarterly numbers on Thursday.

Income of $629.7 million got here in forward of Wall Road analysts’ expectations, although the WWE and UFC parts every recorded upticks within the single digits. Due to the timing of the merger, leads to the quarterly report replicate the operations solely of UFC.

One new piece of reports included within the earnings launch was WWE’s $25 million sale of rights to Monday Night Raw to NBCUniversal. Underneath the short-term extension, the franchise will proceed to air on USA Community by the tip of the yr earlier than a long-term, unique streaming take care of Netflix kicks in subsequent January.

Web losses for TKO totaled $249.5 million within the quarter, whereas adjusted earnings earlier than curiosity, taxes, depreciation and amortization [EBITDA] got here in at $282.2 million. The corporate famous a $335 million settlement of antitrust claims filed by UFC fighters throughout the quarter. The settlement, introduced in March, is payable in installments, per the earnings launch. CFO Andrew Schleimer mentioned throughout a convention name with analysts that the corporate deliberate to make two $100 million funds towards the settlement throughout 2024 and the stability in 2025.

TKO raised its full-year steerage for income and adjusted EBITDA. It revised its forecast totally free money circulation conversion to greater than 40%, noting that free money circulation fell by greater than half within the quarter to $27.8 million, partially as a result of bills associated to WWE’s new Stamford, CT headquarters constructing.

Within the earnings launch, Emanuel pointed to the UFC settlements and the raised steerage. “These optimistic developments, together with the energy in our underlying companies, give us extra conviction than ever in
the mix of UFC and WWE, and in TKO’s capacity to ship sustainable long-term worth for shareholders,” he mentioned.

Learn Extra About: