The Hulk adds muscle to Marvel's profits

The punch packed by super heroes at the cinema box office caused a more than sevenfold increase in second quarter profits at Marvel Enterprises, the parent group of the comic books company behind Spider-Man, X-Men and the Hulk.

The company, which was rescued from bankruptcy in the late 1990s, reported profits of $32.8m (£20.4m), compared with $4.4m a year earlier. Revenues rose from $70.9m to $89.9m.

In the past couple of years, Marvel has benefited from a string of hit films based on its characters - also including Daredevil, starring Ben Affleck, and Blade.

The New York firm licenses its characters to film studios in return for a share of the box office or profits.

However, most of the leap in profits in the second quarter came from licensing characters to consumer product makers for film tie-ins. Licensing now accounts for 45% of the company's revenues.

Revenues at the core comics publishing business rose to $19.5m from $17.9m, partly due to improved advertising revenues.

Marvel, which also makes toy action figures, lifted its forecasts for the full year.

It has the licence to sell figures based on the Lord of the Rings trilogy and is hoping for a boost from the release of the third and final part of the series, Return of the King, at the end of the year.

The next film based on a Marvel character is The Punisher, due for release in the spring or summer of 2004.

Spider-Man 2, the follow-up to last year's hit, is scheduled for July 2004. The Fantastic Four, still without a finished script, could slip into 2005.