Lionsgate Q3 Earnings Decline

SANTA MONICA/VANCOUVER: Lionsgate reported quarterly earnings of $40.7 million, down sharply from the $98.2 million posted in the prior-year period, with the company citing a soft performance from its movies.

Revenue of $670.5 million for the quarter compared to revenue of $751.3 million in the prior-year quarter. The declines in revenue, adjusted EBITDA and EPS in the quarter were due to the weak performance of the theatrical slate. While The Hunger Games: Mockingjay 2 took in more than $650 million at the global box office, its box-office performance declined from Mockingjay 1, with higher Mockingjay 2 production costs also impacting its profitability.

Filmed entertainment backlog (already contracted future revenue not yet recorded) was approximately $1.3 billion at December 31, 2015, increasing from $1.2 billion at September 30, 2015.

Overall motion picture segment revenue for the quarter was $505.8 million, compared to $590.1 million in the prior-year quarter. Even though theatrical revenue of $183.1 million was comparable to $186.4 million in the year-ago period, margins were lower due in part to theatrical P&A expenses associated with four wide film releases in the quarter compared to two wide film releases in the prior-year quarter.

Lionsgate’s home entertainment revenue from motion picture and television production for the quarter was $142 million, compared to $183.1 million a year ago, reflecting the composition and timing of the slate of wide release theatrical titles. This offset increased home entertainment revenue from television production in the quarter.

Television revenue included in the motion picture segment of $48.6 million in the quarter compared to last year’s $82.9 million, due to timing of titles with TV windows opening in the period. (The Hunger Games opened in its network TV window in the prior-year quarter.)

International motion picture segment revenue of $140.1 million for the quarter compared to $142.1 million in the prior-year period.

Television production segment revenue of $164.7 million increased from $161.2 million. Domestic TV revenues were affected by timing of deliveries in the quarter. Deliveries of Orange Is the New Black, Nashville and The Royals are expected to lead strong growth in the fourth quarter, along with the first full quarter of results from Pilgrim Studios, in which Lionsgate acquired a majority stake in November 2015.

“While the performance of our theatrical film slate resulted in softer than anticipated results, our other businesses performed strongly in the quarter,” said Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer. “With our television business continuing its robust topline and margin growth, a deeper and more diversified film slate with lower costs and contributions anticipated from recently launched businesses, we have a clear path to resume our strong and sustainable financial trajectory in fiscal 2017.”