Lionsgate Posts Q2 Loss

SANTA MONICA: Lionsgate reported a net loss of $42.1 million for the fiscal quarter ending September 30, impacted by the timing of episodic TV deliveries and the shift of the wide release of the movie Sicario into October.

The studio posted $476.8 million in revenue, down 14 percent from the year-ago period. Lionsgate said the financial results were affected by the decision to move the wide expansion of Sicario from September to October. Although the move contributed to the film's solid box-office performance, it resulted in its marketing costs being recorded in the September quarter without significant offsetting revenue benefit. In addition, the wide release American Ultra under-performed during the quarter. Lionsgate also recorded a write-down of $7.2 million on The Last Witch Hunter, a film released after the quarter.

Motion-picture-segment revenue for the quarter was $354 million, compared to $398 million in the prior year quarter. Theatrical revenue declined to $26.3 million, with only two wide releases in the quarter: American Ultra and Shaun the Sheep. Lionsgate's filmed entertainment backlog (or already contracted future revenue not yet recorded) was approximately $1.2 billion at September 30, 2015. Lionsgate's home-entertainment revenue from motion picture and television production for the quarter was $153.5 million, compared to $164.4 million in the prior-year quarter due to fewer wide-release theatrical titles and product mix. Television revenue included in the motion-picture segment of $59.9 million in the quarter, compared to $69.4 million in the prior-year quarter. International motion picture segment revenue for the quarter was $107.8 million, compared to $112.9 million in the year-ago quarter.

Television production segment revenue was $122.8 million in the quarter, compared to $154.9 million in the same quarter a year ago, due to timing of episodic deliveries. Deliveries of the critically acclaimed hit series Orange Is the New Black, Nashville and The Royals are expected to drive revenue growth in the second half of the year. 

"Although this quarter will be the lightest of the year due to timing and softer-than-anticipated performance of some of our recent film releases, our robust film and television pipelines position us for a very strong second half of the year," said Lionsgate's CEO, Jon Feltheimer.