ICv2 has a succinct write-up on Marvel’s 4Q financials. Publishing was up, but not enough to offset big losses in licensing revenue.

Driven by strong sales for Civil War and increased penetration of the bookstore market, publishing revenues for Marvel Entertainment were up 22% vs. 2005 in the fourth quarter of 2006 and nearly 18% for the year. But the gains in publishing were not enough to offset a major drop in licensing sales, which plummeted from $81.7 million in Q4 2005 to $25.5 million in Q4 2006, and from $230.1 million for all of 2005 to $127.2 million for 2006. The $56.1 drop in licensing revenue for the fourth quarter reflected the fact that Marvel had received a $50 million license fee for the extension of its agreement with video gamemaker Activision in Q4 2005. International licensing revenues were up substantially but the joint licensing agreement with Sony for Spider-Man yielded a paltry $4.1 million in 2006 versus $24.7 million in 2005.

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