Lionsgate Loses $37.7 Million in Q4 But Beats Revenue Estimate by $67 Million

Starz subscriber growth hits 16.7 million, beating the company’s forecast of 13 million to 15 million

Lionsgate on Thursday reported Q4 earnings with the quarter ending on March 31, 2021, with revenue coming in at $876.4 million, beating Wall Street expectations. However, Lionsgate reported a net loss attributable to Lionsgate shareholders of $37.7 million.

Analysts following the stock via Yahoo Finance had expected Lionsgate to report a revenue of $809.31 million. However, it as down from a year-earlier $944.3 million. The company also reported a loss of 17 cents per share, although analysts had expected a 31 cents loss per share.

While the Motion Picture segment revenue declined to $292.4 million compared to $393.3 million in the prior year quarter, Lionsgate saw an uptick in the Media Networks segment of 12%. The TV production segment was also down to $210.7 million compared to $258.1 million in the prior year quarter. The revenue from Lionsgate’s 17,000-title film and TV library reached $780 million in the last 12 months.

Lionsgate’s full year fiscal 2021 revenue was $3.27 billion with a net loss attributable to shareholders of $18.9 million or a 9 cents loss per share.

“Fiscal 21 was a year of strong domestic and international subscriber growth at STARZ, great new television series, record library sales and a successful pivot to alternative release strategies for many of our films,” Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer said.  “Financially, we reported over $540 million in adjusted OIBDA and over $300 million in adjusted free cash flow, enabling us to significantly reduce our net leverage ratio.  We enter Fiscal 22 with full content pipelines and with Starz projected to achieve even better net subscriber adds domestically and internationally than in Fiscal 21.”

Starz domestic and international revenue were driving by strong subscriber growth, increasing to 29.5 million including STARZPLAY Arabia. Global subscribers increased by 69% year over year to 16.7 million, exceeding the company’s previous forecast of 13 million to 15 million subscribers.

Declining revenue in the Motion Picture segment was once again due to continued theater closures because of the coronavirus pandemic but was partially offset by higher library revenues. The studio also pivoted to online releases strategies for films like “Run” and “Fatale.” The TV segment saw a profit of $9.1 million compared to $21.5 million in the prior year quarter due to the timing of series deliveries.

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