Discount Las Vegas ticketer Tix Corporation released its first quarter financial report for 2010 this week, and the numbers in general don’t compare very well to past performance.
Overall first quarter revenue for the company was $16.8 million, a drop of $3.4 million over the $20.2 million generated during the same period last year. The company attributes the bulk of this loss to slower earnings from its Live Entertainment division, which oversees the promotion and production of live events. This segment saw revenue declines of $3.8 million over the comparable period last year.
Tix Corp.’s CEO, Mitch Francis, said in a press release that the area losses were due to the company having produced fewer shows for the quarter (240) compared with those presented in the same quarter last year (359), adding, “historically this segment does experience significant volatility quarter to quarter and we expect it will continue to grow on an annualized basis.” Live Entertainment saw operating losses of $191,000 in the first quarter, compared with an operating income of $148,000 in the first quarter 2009.
The company’s Exhibit Merchandising segment also saw declines this year. The division responsible for retail sales of museum and exhibit merchandise saw revenues of $2.5 million compared with $2.8 million in the same period last year. Despite this drop, an increase in gross margin and changes to administrative and other expenses led to an increase of $6,000 in operating income this quarter over the comparable period last year.
Tix Corp. did enjoy a significant increase in revenue this quarter from its Ticketing Services segment, which includes twelve discount ticket stores in Las Vegas and ticket sales nationwide through the site Tix4AnyEvent.com. This segment’s revenue increased to $4.7 million this quarter compared with $4.1 million in the prior year period. The company recently received a U.S. patent for its ticket distribution system, which routes its various online and offline storefronts to a central distribution processor.
Despite its solid performance in revenue earnings this quarter, the company’s ticketing segment showed an operating decline, at $1.3 million compared with $1.6 million in the same quarter 2009. This drop was attributed to a decline in gross margin related to labor costs.
The company’s overall cash flow seems to be improving even while certain segments are declining. Net cash this quarter totaled $2.4 million, a jump of $500,000 over the $1.9 million in net cash for the comparable period. This area improved even over the last quarter of 2009, with cash at $10.6 million this quarter compared to $9.9 million for the previous quarter.
Net income for this quarter was $86,000, compared with $295,000 in the same quarter 2009, and Adjusted Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (Adjusted EBTIDA) also fell, at $737,000 compared to $1.3 million for the first period 2009.
The company’s stock, which trades under the symbol TIXC, continues to tread water, opening at $1.42 per share as of today, May 12.
