Lionsgate revenue down 2.5%
February 9, 2024
Lionsgate has reported Q3 (quarter ended December 31st 2023) revenue of $975.1 million (€905m), down 2.5 per cent on the same period last year – largely attributed to the Hollywood strikes – and an operating loss of $43.5 million.
“We’re pleased to report another strong financial quarter in which the performance of our diversified businesses gives us confidence that we can continue to deliver the growth our investors expect,” said Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer. “The investments we made in the quarter to acquire eOne and expand our partnership with 3 Arts, along with our plan to launch Lionsgate Studios as an independent, publicly-traded pure play content company, will continue to enhance the strength of our businesses moving forward.”
“Ten years ago, nearly all of our television profits came from our core premium scripted business,” Feltheimer added in an earnings call statement. “Today, our contributions are spread across scripted, unscripted, talent management, syndication and international productions, enabling us to navigate downturns in any one part of the business and one of the reasons we’re continuing to track toward record Television Group segment profit this year despite the strike and several series cancellations.”
Trailing 12-month revenue from Lionsgate’s film and television library was $784 million. Though the Q3 fiscal 2023 licensing of Schitt’s Creek is no longer included in trailing 12-month library revenue, library revenue grew year-over-year excluding Schitt’s Creek and grew sequentially in the quarter as well. Lionsgate ended the quarter with $283 million in unrestricted cash. Studio backlog from the Motion Picture and Television Production segments was $1.6 billion at December 31st 2023.
Q3 Results
The Studio Business, comprised of the Motion Picture and Television Production segments, reported revenue of $691.6 million, a decrease of 23 per cent from $894.2 million in the prior year quarter. Segment profit of $108.5 million decreased by 27 per cent from $148 million in the prior year quarter.
Motion Picture segment revenue increased by 53 per cent to $443.2 million compared to the prior year quarter, and segment profit increased by 31 per cent to $100.4 million compared to the prior year quarter. Motion Picture revenue growth was driven by the strong worldwide box office performance of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (pictured) and Saw X, and segment profit was driven by the lift the current Hunger Games release provided to the library performance of previous Hunger Games titles, the ancillary market performance of John Wick: Chapter Four and Saw X, and the continued strength of multiplatform releases.
Television Production segment revenue and segment profit decreased to $248.4 million and $8.1 million, respectively, compared to segment revenue of $605.4 million and segment profit of $71.5 million in the prior year quarter. The revenue and segment profit decline were driven by the strikes’ impact on episodic deliveries and our talent management business as well as the comparison with the fiscal third quarter 2023’s licensing of Schitt’s Creek.
Media Networks North American OTT subscribers grew by 700K sequentially in the quarter and overall North American net subscribers grew by 340K. Media Networks segment revenue was up 10 per cent year-over-year to $417.2 million compared to $380.3 million in the prior year quarter. Segment revenue was driven by growth in domestic streaming revenue and LIONSGATE+ revenue, partially offset by lower domestic linear revenue. Segment profit grew 73 per cent to $85.5 million compared to $49.5 million in the prior year quarter, driven by growth in domestic segment profit as well as accelerated revenue recognition associated with LIONSGATE+’s exit of Latin America. Domestic revenue grew on a sequential basis for the second quarter in a row.