Marvel profit beats Street, raises '08 forecast

A life size ''Iron Man'' is on display in the Marvel booth at the 39th annual Comic Con Convention in San Diego July 24, 2008.

(Reuters) - Marvel Entertainment Inc MVL.N, which licenses comic-book characters, posted a 60 percent rise in quarterly profit, helped by higher licensing sales and initial contributions from its film segment, and raised its 2008 outlook.

Net income for the second quarter was $46.7 million, or 59 cents a share, up from $29.1 million, or 34 cents a share, a year earlier. Net sales rose almost 55 percent to $156.9 million.

Analysts on average expected a profit of 44 cents a share, before special items, on revenue of $130.9 million, according to Reuters Estimates.

Licensing segment sales rose about 45 percent to $94.9 million. Film production contributed $28.9 million to net sales.

The film segment also generated $7.7 million in gross profit, attributable to a portion of foreign pre-sales of Marvel's self-produced feature films "Iron Man" and "The Incredible Hulk."

For 2008, Marvel expects earnings of $1.55 and $1.75 a share, up from its previous view of $1.35 to $1.55 a share.

It forecast sales of $450 million to $480 million, up from its prior view of $370 million to $400 million.

Marvel's revised outlook includes revenue and expenses from its self-produced feature films.

Marvel shares closed at $35.26 Monday on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Deepti Govind in Bangalore; Editing by Himani Sarkar)