Massive Tax Break and Strong Box Office Push Lionsgate Past Q3 Wall Street Earnings Expectations
Studio saved $165 million from a lower tax rate, company reported on Thursday
Sean Burch | February 8, 2018 @ 1:37 PM
Last Updated: February 8, 2018 @ 2:17 PM
A massive one-time tax cut and a strong performance at the box office pushed Lionsgate to a better than expected third quarter, with the studio reporting a nearly $200 million profit on Thursday.
After markets closed, the studio reported $1.14 billion in revenue and earnings of 87 cents a share for the three months ended December 31, which the company classifies as its fiscal third quarter. The sales and earnings beat analyst expectations of $1.08 billion in revenue and 25 cents EPS, respectively.
Earnings were bolstered by $165 million stemming from a lower tax rate, with net income coming out to $193 million. The strong quarter comes amid reports Lionsgate is a potential takeover target.
Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer said the quarter pushed the company to resume its quarterly cash dividend, which the company suspended in 2016.
“Our strong performance in the quarter, with robust contributions from our Motion Picture Group and Starz, keeps us on track for our fiscal year expectations,” said Feltheimer in a statement accompanying earnings. “With this financial strength, we’re pleased to announce that our Board has approved the resumption of our quarterly cash dividend, returning value to our shareholders as we continue to grow our Company. Despite a disruptive operating environment, the quarter shows our success in creating premium content that cuts through the clutter of a crowded marketplace and our ability to supply it to a diverse array of media companies.”
The company will resume its quarterly cash dividend at $0.09 per common share.
Lionsgate released five films during the quarter, with “Wonder,” the Owen Wilson-Julia Roberts coming-of-age drama, leading the way at the box office with $277 million pulled in. The studio also released “Jigsaw,” “Tyler Perry’s Boo 2!,” “My Little Pony: The Movie,” and Richard Linklater’s small comedy-drama “Last Flag Flying.” Motion picture revenue was up 14 percent year-over-year to $539.1 million, while registering $54.3 million in profit.
It was a quiet quarter for its TV business,with revenue dropping about 2 percent year-over-year to $227.3 million. Lionsgate didn’t offer much news on Starz — which had about 2 million subscribers coming into the quarter — but its media networks division did see a revenue increase of 6 percent to $382 million.
Lionsgate shares fell more than 3 percent to about $30 on Thursday, but jumped 1 percent after earnings were reported.
The company will hold a conference call to discuss the earnings report at 5:00 p.m. ET.
Sundance Scene: Musical Performances from Idris Elba, Post Malone and Maggie Gyllenhaal (Photos)
Maggie Gyllenhaal and Martha Wainwright (Rufus' sister) sang "Papa Was a Rodeo" together on Saturday at a party for the Autograph Collection Hotels & The Black List. “I need one more drink of tequila,” she said after admitting, “my brother and I sometimes try to figure out the harmonies that [Martha] and her brother sing on some of her albums.”
Autograph Collection Hotels & the Black List Hosted
It's my party and I'll DJ if I want to, DJ if I want to...
DJ Idris Elba took over the decks on the second floor of the Grey Goose Blue Door on Saturday night during his party for "Yardie," his feature film directorial debut. This got him in a musical mindset for the night...
Elba turned up at TAO later on Saturday night as one of the featured head-turning guests. Johnny Damon and Tom Felton also made the scene at The Yard, where Don Julio's top-of-the-line 1942 magnums anchored the VIP tables. Organizers begged people who were not on the list to get Ubers to avoid being stranded outside in the cold. They put out several PSAs during the day on Instagram to ease congestion after a crowd of several hundred waiting outside in the snow on Friday night tried to get access.
Al Powers/Powers Imagery/Tao
Post Malone burned the promoters at Park City Live. After performing a sold out show there earlier on Saturday night, he made a second (unannounced) stop at Tao, rolling in at 2 a.m. with a sizeable entourage. They took over the DJ booth from DJ Politik to perform "White Iverson" and "Congratulations." Posty's next stop: Coachella in April.
The Black List founder Franklin Leonard captured a historic meet-up: #OscarsSoWhite founder April Reign (left) and #MeToo Founder Tarana Burke linked up at a Black List event. "It's blurry, but I don't care," Leonard wrote. "The culture deserves to see these smiles, blurry or not."
Courtesy of Franklin J. Leonard
Seeing digital cipher Poppy in person is an odd experience because there are no cracks in the "part-android/part-human" performer online. She headlined YouTube's house party on Saturday night, a party where people actually danced. Sam Ronson DJ'd the bash. Poppy will remain in the snow for a few days, as her new YouTube Red Original series "I'm Poppy" debuts as a festival selection on Tuesday.
YouTube
A view of the line outside on Saturday night. Google/YouTube Space on Heber is a two-story venue that has been a restaurant and the home of NBCUniversal's parties in the past. YouTube is not crashing the Sundance scene. This is the sixth year that they have been the official sponsor of the festival's Shorts program.
Paul Oakenfold was not the one "Really Cool Dude" at ChefDance's "49 Remarkable Women + 1 Really Cool Dude" event (though he was there) on Saturday night.
Tiffani Rose
The "1 really cool dude" was Scooter Braun. Gloria Allred addressed him from the podium: “Scooter, you’re the one cool dude, because I've sued all the rest."
Geena Davis threw a party to promote her Bentonville Film Festival, an emerging event in Arkansas each May that focuses on female voices in cinema. Here, Janina Gavankar of "Blindspotting," Anika Noni Rose and Colman Domingo (both of "Assassination Nation") enjoy Davis' hospitality inside the DIRECTV Lodge presented by AT&T.
Getty Images
Remnants from the Respect Rally earlier in the day -- like signs and Planned Parenthood pink buttons -- floated around Park City on Saturday. Here, Caren Spruch, Melanie Lynskey, Jason Ritter and Dawn Laguens were still rally-ready at "The Tale" party that night.
After the march, people ducked into bars to get out of the snow and slush. Here, Bridey Elliott and Haley Joel Osment found Rock & Reilly's hideaway. As one of the last places slinging swag in the post-gifting suite era, Roku handed out the Streaming Stick+ to some VIPs.
Isaac Brekken
Aubrey Plaza was the toast of the 2017 festival by stalking Elizabeth Olsen in "Ingrid Goes West." This year, she came to support Chloe Sevigny at the after party for "Lizzie," one of the buzzy titles around town. The Lizzie Borden story, about the woman accused of killing her father and stepmother in Massachusetts in 1892, had a packed party Friday night at Cafe Artois.
Getty Images
Molly Shannon and Kathryn Hahn hug it out at the DIRECTV Lodge presented by AT&T on Friday night. L.A.'s prom king Jeffrey Best (event production designer) built out a gorgeous three-room space that also included a pop-up of industry favorite, Craig's.
Getty Images
"Scandal's" Bellamy Young and Ed Weeks took a break at Debbie Durkin's Ecoluxe Lounge, the last gifting suite of a bygone era of freebies in every nook along Main Street.
Paul Best/Getty Images
Moviepass has its diehard devotees. Mitch Lowe's all-you-can-watch theatre pass leveraged that in to a Park City estate rife with cast dinners and celeb sightings like Aubrey Plaza, Jermaine Clement, and Priyanka Chopra during the opening weekend. Here, the boss (right) poses with Craig Robinson.
Women In Film President Cathy Schulman chatted with Tessa Thompson about the state of women in the entertainment industry at the Friday night dinner at the DIRECTV Lodge presented by AT&T. After Sundance, WIF announced that Emma Stone will be co-hosting their event toasting female Oscar nominees on the Friday night before the big show.
Joe Scarnici/Getty Images for AT&T
The titular star of "The Miseducation of Cameron Post," Chloe Grace Moretz, accepted one of the Creative Coalition's Spotlight Awards at their annual dinner gala on Sunday night (Jan. 21). “We made this film about a girl that gets sent to gay conversion therapy after being caught with a girl," Moretz said in dedicating the award to the LGBTQ community. "This is still legal in 45 out of 50 states.”
Nadja Swarovski, Kenneth Cole, Lucy Walker, and UCLA TFT Dean Teri Schwartz huddled at a private screening of the documentary 'Waterschool' on Jan. 20. Dean Schwartz was there because the film was created by UCLA TFT graduate students in partnership with Swarovski. Right after this event, the film traveled to Davos, where it to be screened at the World Economic Forum later in the week.
Lyman Winn
DJ Frodo (Elijah Wood) spun at Wanderluxxe's house in Deer Valley, where several festival talent escaped the crowds on Main Street. Wanderluxxe is a concierge service founded by Marti Hines and Lola Wood.
Michael Bezjian/Getty
A brass band, with a washboard player, drums and a parasol celebration warmed up Sundance's slow second weekend with the 6th Annual Louisiana Film, Music & Cuisine celebration: Mardi Gras Muses.
Tianna Horito
Inside, the star of Ethan Hawke's "Blaze," Ben Dickey, and the director himself were the marquee talent. Dickey won the special jury award for acting. The Louisiana International Film Festival takes place April 19- 22, 2018 in Baton Rouge.
Erica Rascone
Check out Ethan Hawke, Lena Waithe, Issa Rae and more of the starry scene in Park City here:
As marches and snow blanketed Park City, the Party Report’s Mikey Glazer ducks inside parties with Aubrey Plaza, Scooter Braun, Molly Shannon and more
Maggie Gyllenhaal and Martha Wainwright (Rufus' sister) sang "Papa Was a Rodeo" together on Saturday at a party for the Autograph Collection Hotels & The Black List. “I need one more drink of tequila,” she said after admitting, “my brother and I sometimes try to figure out the harmonies that [Martha] and her brother sing on some of her albums.”
Autograph Collection Hotels & the Black List Hosted
Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Grey Goose Vodka
