Brian D. Goldner
Analyst · Felicia Hendrix of Barclays Capital
Thank you, Debbie. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. At our Investor Day in November 2011, as well as our Toy Fair meeting following Q4 earnings in February, we communicated our plan for 2012, which called for a greater percentage of our business to come later in the year as we better aligned our shipments with the timing of consumer demand on a global basis. Our first quarter results are consistent with the execution of this plan, and we continue to believe that we are on track to deliver revenues and earnings per share growth absent the impact of foreign exchange for the full year 2012. We experienced point-of-sale growth versus the first quarter 2011 in both the U.S. and major international markets. And according to NPD, through the first quarter 2012, we gained share in the U.S. and Europe. Let me share some of the highlights of the first quarter. The momentum in our International business has continued, and we posted growth in every major geographic region during the quarter. We grew shipments in the Boys and Games product categories, and we are experiencing positive point-of-sale trends in the major markets where we receive data. In the U.S. and Canada, we are making progress toward our plan to return the business to historical operating profit margin levels versus 2011 results. We reduced our headcount and right sized the business during the first quarter. We are also working with our retailers to better align the timing of our shipments with the timing of consumer demand that comes later in the year. Finally, we are aggressively increasing our media spend this year versus 2011 as we shift more dollars towards selling innovative Hasbro product lines to consumers. So far, we're seeing good results. Point-of-sale was up in the quarter 6%, and our retail inventories are down 20%. From a product category standpoint company-wide, our Boys and Preschool category shipments grew in the quarter. In the Boys category, demand was driven by entertainment properties from Marvel and Star Wars as well as KRE-O, which we did not have revenue for last year. An encouraging sign is that Beyblade has continued to be strong in many markets, with strong point-of-sale growth in several countries including the U.S., Canada and Germany and net revenues in terms of shipments flat with last year. As 2012 was a non-movie year, it's not surprising that Transformers was down in the Boys category. However, although early in the year, the brand is flat with last year on an overall brand revenue standpoint with new initiatives including Transformers Rescue Bots and Bot Shots contributing to the Preschool and Games categories. Additionally, licensing revenue for Transformers grew year-over-year. Point-of-sale trends for Transformers were up in many countries, including the U.S., Canada, U.K., France, Germany and Mexico. We're also seeing good early success with Transformers Prime as television is now airing in more than 160 countries. The Boys category will benefit from the launch of 4 major motion pictures in the coming months to global audiences. In partnership with Universal, Battleship is off to a great early start. The film recently launched in more than 50 international territories, and while we're still awaiting final numbers, we are very pleased that in just 12 days, the film has grossed more than $100 million in international box office revenue. Marvel has 2 tremendous films this year: The Avengers from Marvel opens May 4, and The Amazing Spider-Man from Marvel and Sony opens July 3. Both brands are being supported with television animation, and we have strong lines for both properties. Finally, in partnership with Paramount, we're excited for the return of G.I. Joe to the big screen in G.I. Joe: Retaliation, coming to theaters on June 29. In Preschool, Sesame Street contributed to the year-over-year gains as did Playskool Heroes, with Transformers Rescue Bots leading Playskool Heroes' growth. While the Girls and Games categories were down in the quarter, My Little Pony posted positive shipments for Hasbro and positive point-of-sale growth in several countries, including the U.S., U.K., France and Spain. My Little Pony television programming is currently airing in these countries, as well as in more than 160 countries worldwide. We also launched Dizzy Dancers, which is part of our FurReal Friends line in the first quarter, and this is off to a good start in early markets like the U.S. and Australia. We have many innovative new initiatives coming for Girls this fall, including Baby Butterscotch and FurReal Friends and Baby Wanna Walk from Baby Alive, as well as great new look for Littlest Pet Shop inspired by television programming in the U.S. and Canada this fall and rolling out to additional markets beginning spring of '13. We're also very excited about the return of Furby to our line-up this fall. We are not yet sharing specific details of the new Furby, but we are pleased with the reception Furby has received thus far by our retail partners and we look forward to unveiling Furby to consumers. In the Games category, we continue to view 2012 as a year for stabilizing Games, with the intent of growing the category in 2013 and beyond. At the end of the first quarter, our retail inventories in Games are down significantly in the U.S. from last year, as we restage the business and reinvent our Games initiatives beginning in the second half of 2012. Despite this trend, several Games brands grew in the quarter including continued strong performance from Magic: The Gathering and growth in Duel Masters and Battleship. As we outlined at Toy Fair, we have developed new initiatives which focus on the game-ification of play, and these are off to a good start, including Star Wars Fighter Pods and Transformers Bot Shots. Later this year, we have innovative new games being introduced, including a completely reimagined Lazer Tag, a new way to play Twister with Twister Dance and an all-new Monopoly, MONOPOLY Millionaires. This year, we also have an entirely new game brand, Kaijudo from Wizards of the Coast. Kaijudo is supported by all-new television programming, which begins airing on The Hub in May, as well as an online battle game in May and a trading card game, which launches in limited edition release in June. We're also very excited to establish a multi-year partnership with Zynga, under which Hasbro will develop and distribute wide-ranging product lines based on Zynga's games brands and a number of toy and game categories. The first products under this agreement will be available fall 2012. Finally, our television initiatives are trending positively. The Hub ratings are up 32% in the first quarter versus last year in total day kids 2 to 11. As we look at the overall schedule on The Hub, Hasbro-branded television shows accounted for 6 of the top 10 series in the quarter, with Transformers Rescue Bots and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic ranking #1 and #2 for kids 2 to 11. Outside the U.S., our shows are now airing in more than 160 countries worldwide and are performing quite well. 2012 is the first year in which we have programming and merchandise globally, and early sales trends support our long-stated premise that television programming drives merchandise sales. Through a multi-year agreement with Netflix that we sighed this month, we have dramatically expanded our audience by 24 million homes. Netflix will be airing 10 Hasbro Studios shows in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, including Transformers Prime and My Little Pony. These shows are part of the Just for Kids section of Netflix, which is performing well. Our approach to television programming has been an all-screen strategy from the start, and this agreement dramatically expands the visibility and distribution of our shows. In closing, the first quarter is in line with our expectation and what we outlined for you on a number of occasions. We are on track for delivering our full year plan, which is centered around the execution of our global brand blueprint through a focus on innovation, new inventions, immersive experiences and our International business all while planning a return in the U.S. business to historical levels of operating profit margin versus 2011 results. Now I'd like to turn the call over to Deb. Deb?