Citing strong performance from “Knives Out,” Lionsgate has posted revenues and operating income above Wall Street projections for its third fiscal quarter that ended on Dec. 31.
Revenue were $998.5 million, 8% above Wall Street forecasts, and adjusted operating income of $124.5 million beat estimates by 11%. Subscribers from Starz, Starzplay Arabia and Pantaya reached 28.5 million in the quarter and global OTT subscribers reached 8.6 million for am 8% gain in global subscribers. Adjusted earnings per share were 14 cents, well below forecasts for 18 cents.
“Knives Out” has grossed $155 million in North America and $294 million worldwide. Rian Johnson received an Oscar nomination in the Best Original Screenplay category for the murder mystery.
“Our Motion Picture Group turned in a strong performance in the quarter, led by the worldwide box office success of ‘Knives Out’ while our Television Group secured a number of important scripted series and pilot commitments and Starz continued to grow its over-the-top platform worldwide,” said Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer. “Our Starzplay international rollout remains on track to achieve financial and subscriber targets that we expect to translate into meaningful incremental value creation.”
Lionsgate’s film operation saw revenue rise 30% to $473.9 million with segment profit of $49 million with the studio crediting the strong performance of “Knives Out” along with the ancillary results for “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum.”
The company has projected Starzplay international subscriber growth to between 15 and 25 million over the next five years.