Lionsgate Spins A Profit Story From Cost Cuts In A Slow June Quarter

I’m going to guess that tomorrow morning analysts will pepper CEO Jon Feltheimer with more questions about Lionsgate‘s upcoming productions and possible role in media industry consolidation than they will about its performance in its fiscal Q1 which ended in June. There just isn’t much to say about a three month period where the studio sold fewer episodes of Mad Men than it did last year, and when its top movie was Draft Day, the Kevin Costner sports film that generated $28.8M at domestic box offices.

Still, Lionsgate’s numbers, out today, should please investors: Largely due to cost controls, it generated net income of $43.3M, +217.7% vs last year, on revenues of $449.4M, -21.1%. While the top line missed forecasts for $488.6M, earnings per share at 30 cents were well ahead of expectations for 17 cents.

Feltheimer says his company “used our strengths as an innovative pure play content company to position ourselves for continued growth and profitability in an increasingly dynamic industry environment.”

Motion Picture revenue dropped 24.3% to $331.9M as the company fielded two wide theatrical releases vs. three last year including Now You See Me. Home entertainment sales fell 16.8% to $140.9M with two wide release films vs. five last year. One bright spot in the operation was in television where licensing deals for Ender’s Game and Red 2 helped to boost sales 60% to $58.8M.

Meanwhile, Television Production segment sales slipped 10.4% to $117.5M as the decrease in Mad Men episodes — due to the decision to split the final season — offset international sales for the show as well as Anger Management and Orange Is the New Black.