Lionsgate Swings to Quarterly Profit

SANTA MONICA: Lionsgate posted first-quarter earnings of $13.6 million, compared to the $44.2 million loss in the prior year quarter.

Revenue gained 21 percent year on year to $569.7 million. This was thanks to strong performances in the company’s TV production, home entertainment and international operations, offsetting a decline in theatrical revenues. The theatrical revenues faced a tough comparison, since the prior year quarter included all but the first nine days of the U.S. theatrical release of the first Hunger Games film.

Overall the motion picture segment had quarterly revenues of $438.6 million, up 8 percent. Lionsgate’s home entertainment revenue from both motion pictures and TV was $169.4 million, an increase of 16 percent. This was driven by a diversified slate that included Warm Bodies, The Impossible and Texas Chainsaw 3D as well as continued revenue from The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn—Part 2, Sinister, The Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Expendables 2. Digital media revenue jumped 21 percent to $63.2 million.

TV revenue included in the motion picture segment was $36.8 million, down slightly from the $37.1 million in the prior year quarter.

Revenue in the TV production segments was $131.1 million, which is more than double revenue in the prior year quarter. This reflects strong gains in licensing of domestic TV series and international sales. Deliveries in the quarter included Anger Management, season six of Mad Men, the first season of Nashville, the debut of Orange Is the New Black and several shows in syndication, including season four of the Wendy Williams Show.

"We’re pleased with our first quarter results, with particularly strong contributions from our diversified television slate, packaged and digital media and our robust international performance," said Jon Feltheimer, Lionsgate’s CEO. "The fact that our quarter compared favorably to a first quarter last year that included most of the domestic release of the first Hunger Games film illustrates the diversity of our business. The appetite for content is growing, domestically and internationally, across multiple platforms and, as a pure content company, we are well positioned to capitalize on this demand."