The fiscal year ended March 31 may be best remembered at Lionsgate for the repeated battling between its management and the company’s largest shareholder, Carl Icahn. Nonetheless, it turned out to be a good year financially.
Lionsgate reported that revenues for the year increased 6% to $1.58 billion. Within that, TV production revenue was up 1% to $353.2 million. Domestic series licensing from the company’s TV distribution and syndication business increased 48% to $136.5 million. That was credited to increased revenue from “Meet the Browns,” “Are We There Yet?” and “The Wendy Williams Show.”
EBITDA for the year increased to $68.3 million from $62.3 million. Free cash flow (FCF) flipped to $9.7 million from negative FCF of $102.4 million the previous year.
“Strong performances from our television business and our filmed entertainment library contributed to financial results that exceeded our preliminary estimates,” said Lionsgate Co-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jon Feltheimer. “We were particularly pleased by near record international sales, reflecting the demand for content in the world marketplace, and rapid growth of high margin digital and on demand revenue.”
