Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, HRL

"Substantial Doubt" Wizard World Can Continue Past November 2018 as Losses Mount

Published Tue, 09 Jan 2018 11:00:49 -0600

Wizard World has released their 10Q financial statement for 2017. And as ever, all those numbers stacked up against each other make for a fascinating read, comparing their financial statements as of September 2017 to those as of December 2016.

Their total assets have dropped from being worth almost $6 million to under $3 million, while their liabilities have risen from over $10 million to almost $12 million.

Compared with their last nine-month performance in 2016 of convention revenue of over $20 million, that has dropped to over $13 million. Meanwhile, their ConBox revenue of two-thirds of a million has stopped completely as they closed the streaming video service.

So while they made a net loss of over $800,000 in the comparable time period, this year it was a loss of almost $5.5 million.

Add it all up and they report that they "had a loss from operations of $4,454,857 and $1,182,246 for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and the year ended December 31, 2016, respectively. As of September 30, 2017, we had cash and working capital deficit (excluding the derivative liability) of $1,176,034 and $1,514,182, respectively. We have evaluated the significance of these conditions in relation to our ability to meet our obligations and have concluded that, due to these conditions, there is substantial doubt about the Company's ability to continue as a going concern through November 2018."

The reduction in revenue can, in part, be put down to Wizard World putting on fewer shows than before. However, Wizard World has given these grave warnings before, just before management wolf up a big bunch of shares. So they, at least, seem to think the company is worth investing in. As they state:

If necessary, management believes that both related parties (management and members of the Board of Directors of the Company) and potential external sources of debt and/or equity financing may be obtained based on management's history of being able to raise capital from both internal and external sources coupled with current favorable market conditions. Therefore, the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern.

Chairman Paul Kessler could buy enough to take it over 90% ownership, making it a private company and never have to issue these reports again. He just bought $300k worth of stock…