Lionsgate suffers $45 million earnings loss during Q2 2021

Lionsgate released a fiscal 2022 report, which reflected expected growth, but unexpected quarter-to-quarter subscriber slowdown at Starz. “I’m pleased to report that we were able to lean into our resilient business model to drive strong financial results in the quarter,” Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer said. 

The company's total revenue surged by 11% to $901.2 million, which correlates with its most recent forecasts. Earnings per share were calculated to be 18 cents doubled Wall Street forecasts but declined from 23 cents in the same period of the prior year. “We filled our content pipelines with exciting new properties and added valuable new titles to our library. Like the rest of the industry, Starz subscriber growth was impacted by the decline in at-home viewership and, importantly, a light content quarter due to COVID-driven production delays," Feltheimer said. 

In reporting the financials, the company noted that the transaction last month in which Lionsgate took a 20% stake in Spyglass Media Group occurred outside of the quarter. Revenue then rose to 4% in the Media Networks division, which includes premium network Starz, as profit increased 23% to $88.2 million. The profit upswing was driven by a lower cadence of programming and content spending, the company said.

Global subscriber levels totaled 28.9 million, a significant increase from 29.5 million in the quarter ending 31st March. On a year-over-year basis, streaming numbers showed more progress, rising 58% to 16.7 million globally as streaming continued to outpace linear. StarzPlay International’s subscriber base grew 106% to 7 million compared with the year-ago period. The Motion Picture division also saw revenue rise 4% to $291.2 million, but profit fell by more than half, to $44.3 million compared with $101.1 million. Television Production’s results were a bright spot in the quarter. Revenue shot up 97% to $386.1 million, with a profit of $3 million fueled by 13 new series orders and seven pilots picked up to series. All of the production entity’s freshman series from last season have been renewed for the second season.