Madison Square Garden Profits More Than Triple in Fourth Quarter

Madison Square Garden reported growing profits and rising revenue that easily surpassed analyst expectations in the fourth quarter.

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The company said its net income for the quarter grew 245 percent from the previous year to $28.6 million, or 37 cents per diluted share. Revenues for MSG came in at $332.9 million, a 42 percent increase from the same period in 2011.

The announcement was significantly ahead of a consensus analyst projection of about $273 million in revenue and sent MSG's stock price surging in pre-market trading, up nine percent to nearly $44.

The company has benefited from increased ratings and ticket sales in the wake of "Linsanity," but will now have to live without New York Knicks basketball player Jeremy Lin, who departed from MSG in July.

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MSG also has been in the midst of a nearly $1 billion renovation of its famous arena in New York, which the company highlighted in its earnings announcement.

"Our company had an impressive year as the ongoing strength of our fully integrated media, entertainment and sports business drove record AOCF for fiscal 2012," said MSG president and CEO Hank Ratner. "The second phase of the arena transformation is progressing well and we look forward to the debut of the transformed upper bowl this fall. Looking ahead, we remain confident that the breadth and strength of our assets and brands position us well for long-term growth and value creation for our shareholders."

For the full fiscal 2012 year, MSG reported revenues of $1.3 billion, up 8 percent from the prior year, and attributed to strong performance in its sports and media segments.

The bad news for the company came in the entertainment sector.

MSG Entertainment revenues of $264.0 million decreased 10 percent from the previous year, although they were up 41 percent to $50.8 million in the fourth quarter. The increase came from more events in the New York venues.