(Source: PRNewswire-FirstCall)
SANTA MONICA, Calif. and VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Lionsgate , the leading next generation studio, continued its strong growth momentum, reporting revenues of $387.7 million and net income of $36.3 million for the fiscal 2010 first quarter ended June 30, 2009, the Company announced today. Basic net income per common share was $0.31 on 117.1 million weighted average common shares outstanding, compared to basic net income of $0.03 on 118.4 million weighted average common shares outstanding in the prior year's first quarter.
The Company reported adjusted EBITDA of $53.0 million in the first quarter compared to adjusted EBITDA of $17.4 million for the prior year's first quarter. Adjustments in the quarter were made for non-cash stock options, stock appreciation rights (SARs) and restricted stock units, certain non-recurring charges and the deduction of Lionsgate's partners' share of EBITDA attributed to TV Guide. EBITDA is defined as earnings before interest, income tax provision, depreciation and amortization, equity interests and gains on extinguishment of debt and the sale of equity securities.
First quarter revenues were $387.7 million, an increase of 30% compared to $298.5 million in the prior year's first quarter, reflecting strong growth in television production revenues, growth in overall Motion Picture Group revenues, highlighted by a strong performance from Mandate Pictures, and new revenue of $27.8 million reflecting the first full quarter of revenue from TV Guide Network and TV Guide.com.
"As anticipated, we had a strong and profitable growth quarter that puts us on track to meet our financial targets for the year," said Lionsgate Co-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jon Feltheimer. "We are particularly pleased that, beyond the solid financial story, we saw significant positive developments across nearly all of our businesses, including new distribution and syndication orders for Debmar-Mercury shows, new television series entering the production pipeline, important programming acquisitions for TV Guide Network, the first in a series of anticipated carriage deals for Epix and new branded channel launches in Asia. The real story this quarter was the continued strong growth of our diversified asset base."
The Company's filmed entertainment backlog grew to a record $517.0 million in the first quarter. Filmed entertainment backlog represents the amount of future revenue from films, television programming and video product already licensed but not yet recorded. It does not include unsold rights to this product, typically referred to as library value. General and administrative expenses, including the addition of TV Guide Network and TV Guide.com, were $41.1 million in the first quarter compared to $38.3 million in the prior year's first quarter. Excluding TV Guide Network and TV Guide.com, general and administrative expenses in the quarter were $30.4 million, a decrease of 21% from $38.3 million in the prior year's first quarter.
Overall motion picture revenue for the quarter of $272.7 million increased $15.3 million, or 6%, compared to $257.4 million in the prior year's first quarter. Within the motion picture segment, theatrical revenue was $22.7 million, a decrease of 26% compared to the prior year first quarter, as the Company released only Crank: High Voltage in the quarter, with continued revenue from Fiscal 2009 fourth quarter hits Tyler Perry's Madea Goes To Jail and The Haunting In Connecticut.
Lionsgate's home entertainment revenue was $151.0 million in the quarter, a decline of 6% from the prior year's first quarter. Solid revenues from a slate that included Madea Goes To Jail, My Bloody Valentine 3-D, New In Town, The Spirit and Transporter 3 compared to a slate in the prior year's first quarter that included an exceptional revenue performance from Rambo along with titles such as 3:10 To Yuma, The Eye and Witless Protection. DVD sales of The Spirit and New In Town overconverted their theatrical box office performance in the quarter, giving Lionsgate five of the industry's six overconverting DVD titles in the first six months of calendar 2009.
Television revenue included in motion pictures revenue was $20.6 million in the first quarter, a decline of 29% from the prior year's first quarter, with a slate of Bangkok Dangerous, Disaster Movie, My Best Friend's Girl, Saw V, Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys and "W." comparing to a slate of 3:10 To Yuma, Bratz: The Movie, Good Luck Chuck, Saw IV and War in the prior year's first quarter.
International revenues of $32.5 million in the first quarter declined 5% from the prior year's first quarter. Principal revenue contributors in the quarter were My Best Friend's Girl, My Bloody Valentine 3-D and Saw V.
Mandate Pictures' revenue of $53.1 million in the first quarter increased sharply from $8.5 million in the prior year's first quarter as Drag Me To Hell, Juno and Passengers all made strong contributions. Lionsgate acquired Mandate Pictures in August 2007.
Television production revenue increased to $87.2 million in the first quarter, a gain of 112% compared to $41.1 million in the prior year's first quarter, reflecting strong contributions in domestic series licensing from Lionsgate Television and Debmar-Mercury, along with new revenue from the Company's joint venture with ISH Entertainment. Within the television production segment, international revenue and revenue from the home entertainment releases of television programming also increased. Revenue reflected the delivery of six episodes of Weeds Season 5 (Showtime) and 12 episodes of Nurse Jackie Season 1 (Showtime) in the quarter, increased revenue from Debmar-Mercury's distribution of Tyler Perry's House of Payne, its spinoff Meet The Browns and South Park, production of the ISH Entertainment series Paris Hilton's My New BFF and My Antonio, strong international revenues from Crash TV Series Season 1, Dead Zone, Paris Hilton's My New BFF and Scream Queens, and a powerful performance of Weeds Seasons 3 and 4 on DVD.
Lionsgate senior management will hold its analyst and investor conference call to discuss its fiscal 2010 first quarter financial results at 9:00 A.M. ET/6:00 A.M. PT, Tuesday, August 11, 2009. Interested parties may participate live in the conference call by calling 1-800-230-1074 (612-234-9960 outside the U.S. and Canada). A full digital replay will be available from Tuesday afternoon, August 11, through Tuesday, August 18, by dialing 1-800-475-6701 (320-365-3844 outside the U.S. and Canada) and using access code 108177.
About Lionsgate
Lionsgate is the leading next generation studio with a strong and diversified presence in the production and distribution of motion pictures, television programming, home entertainment, family entertainment, video-on-demand and digitally delivered content. The Company has built a strong television presence in production of prime time cable and broadcast network series, production, distribution and syndication of programming through Debmar-Mercury, reality programming through its joint venture with ISH Entertainment and an array of channel platforms, including its partnership with One Equity Partners and Allen Shapiro in TV Guide Network and TV Guide.com, its partnership with Viacom and MGM in the multiplatform premium channel Epix, its partnership with Sony and Comcast in the branded horror channel FEARnet and its recent launch of the KIX action channel and the Thrill horror/suspense channel in Asia. Its feature film business achieved a record box office performance in the January-March 2009 quarter, driven by the success of "Tyler Perry's Madea Goes To Jail," "My Bloody Valentine 3-D" and "The Haunting In Connecticut." The Company's home entertainment business has grown to more than 7% market share and leads the industry in its box office-to-DVD revenue conversion rate.
