Lionsgate Swings to Q4 Profit

SANTA MONICA: Lionsgate Entertainment has posted a profit for its fourth quarter, after seeing a loss last year, driven mainly by an increase in revenues.

Earnings for the studio were $163 million for the three months ended March 31, compared to the year-ago loss of $22.7 million. Lionsgate’s revenues for the quarter were at $785.7 million, from last year’s $645.2 million, a 22-percent gain.

Lionsgate’s full-year fiscal 2013 revenue was up 71 percent, to $2.71 billion. Earnings were $232 million, against the prior-year loss of $39.1 million.

The gains for the fiscal year were largely attributed to sales increases in Lionsgate’s theatrical, home entertainment, international and Lionsgate U.K. businesses. The strong performances of The Hunger Games and Twilight movie franchise were also key.

The motion picture segment grew 96 percent for the fiscal year, to $2.33 billion. Within that, theatrical revenue was up 156 percent, to $535.5 million. Lionsgate’s home entertainment revenue, for both motion pictures and TV, was up 41 percent, to $964.1 million. Digital media revenue grew 46 percent, to $276.6 million. TV revenue in the motion picture segment grew two-fold to $277.9 million. Lionsgate U.K. revenue increased 46 percent, to $147.7 million. TV production was down slightly, to $379 million.

"We completed a stellar fiscal 2013 with an outstanding fourth quarter that reflected strong contributions from our young adult franchises as well as the rest of our theatrical slate and our home entertainment and international businesses," said Jon Feltheimer, Lionsgate’s CEO. "We are performing ahead of plan for all of our metrics, and we’re pleased with the financial strength of our diverse portfolio of businesses and our strong and growing momentum building Lionsgate into a next generation global content leader."