Lionsgate‘s revenue for the first three months of 2025 rose 22% and its movie division profitability soared to its highest level in a decade helped by the box office performance of “Den of Thieves 2: Pantera” and “Flight Risk” in the period.
Following the end of the quarter, Lionsgate on May 7 officially completed the long-gestating split with Starz premium cable and streaming business, which is now a separately traded company. The quarterly earnings, which are the company’s fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, excludes the Starz results.
For the most recent quarter, Lionsgate reported revenue of $1.1 billion (up 22%) and operating income of $94.2 million (up from $19.4 million in the year-earlier period). Net income attributable to shareholders was $21.9 million (or 10 cents per diluted earnings per share), compared with a loss of $54.2 million in the year-ago period.
“We are pleased to report a strong quarter despite a difficult operating environment,” said Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer in prepared remarks. “The same strengths that drove the quarter – another outsized library performance, a diversified motion picture business model, fiscal discipline and the ability to deliver premium television programming to a changing mix of buyers – will continue to be the catalysts of our success as a standalone studio with the ability to create significant incremental value for our shareholders.”
Lionsgate’s Motion Picture segment revenue grew 28% to $526.4 million, while segment profit grew 65% to $135.3 million. Quarterly motion picture segment profit was the highest in 10 years, driven by the box office success of the midbudget films “Den of Thieves 2: Pantera” (pictured above) and “Flight Risk,” as well as an increase in non-theatrical content deliveries, strong library demand and lower P&A spend.
Television Production segment revenue increased 16% to $543.3 million while segment profit decreased to $40.6 million. Revenue growth was driven by a substantial increase in episodic deliveries relative to last year’s strike-impacted March quarter, while the segment profit decline reflected a difficult comparison with a library sale of content in last year’s fourth quarter.
Trailing 12-month library revenue was $956 million, up 8% relative to last year’s fourth quarter trailing 12-month library revenue, with a record $340 million revenue fourth quarter driven by licensing sales of “The Rookie” to Disney+ and “The Chosen” to Amazon Prime Video.
The Television Production segment includes the licensing of Starz original series productions to the Starz business, and the ancillary market distribution of Starz original productions and licensed product. Revenue related to the Starz business for the first three months of 2025 was $206.2 million, up 67% year over year.
More to come