TV a Bright Spot in Lionsgate Results

SANTA MONICA/VANCOUVER: Lionsgate reported lower fourth-quarter earnings and revenue, though its TV production division and international businesses saw solid gains.

Earnings for the three months ending March 31 were $49.2 million, compared to a profit of $163 million in the same period a year ago. Revenue for the latest quarter was $721.9 million, compared to Q4 2013's $785.7 million.

For the full fiscal year, Lionsgate posted revenues of $2.63 billion, down from the $2.71 billion reported the year prior. This was due to the fact that there were 13 theatrical releases in fiscal 2014, compared to 19 the prior year. This was partially offset by rising revenue from Lionsgate's TV production division, which saw revenues rise to a record $447.4 million for the full-year 2014, and international operations posting record revenue for the full year at $397.1 million. The company's filmed entertainment library also had an all-time high, with revenue of $496 million.

Domestic television deliveries in the fiscal year totaled 176 episodes and 122 hours of television content, including seasons one and two of Orange Is the New Black, seasons one and two of Nashville, seasons six and seven of Mad Men, season six of Nurse Jackie and Anger Management.

The motion-picture revenue for the fiscal year was down to $2.18 billion, from the prior year's $2.33 billion. Theatrical revenue in the motion-picture segment dipped 2 percent to $524.7 million. Home entertainment revenue for both motion pictures and TV was also down, from $964.1 million a year ago to $863.9 million for fiscal 2014. International motion-picture revenue (excluding Lionsgate U.K.) was up 7 percent to $397.1 million. Lionsgate U.K., meanwhile, had revenues of $146.3 million for fiscal 2014, which is just a slight fall from the prior year.

"Our strong operating momentum, the diversity of our portfolio of businesses and the continued enhancement of our capital structure all contributed to another year of outstanding financial results," said Jon Feltheimer, Lionsgate's CEO. "The trajectory of our business, the depth of our content pipelines and the ongoing generation of predictable income from our film franchises, television properties and filmed entertainment library continue to give us excellent long-term visibility."