Lionsgate Swings to Q3 Profit on 'Breaking Dawn' Box Office

1:25 PM PST 2/11/2013 by Etan Vlessing

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The mini-studio saw its shares hit a new all-time high a year after acquiring Summit Entertainment and its teen movie franchise.

TORONTO – Lionsgate on Monday saw its shares hit a new all-time high as it showed the latest fruits of its Twilight franchise.

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Stock in Lionsgate closed Monday on the New York Stock Exchange at a new all-time high as it rose 4 percent in heavy trading to $19.89, just off its high for the day and well up from a 52-week low of $11.09.

The stock performance came just ahead of the Vancouver-based mini-studio swinging to a third-quarter profit of $37.8 million, compared to a year-earlier loss of $1.4 million.

Revenue for the three months to December 31 came to $743.6 million, compared with $323 million in 2011, when the mini-studio had no wide theatrical releases.

During the latest frame, revenue rose 130 percent due to the theatrical box office performance of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 and other releases.

The latest results come a year after Lionsgate acquired privately-held Summit Entertainment, using Twilight cash-flow to fund the $412 million leveraged buyout.

The takeover brought the Twilight and Hunger Games movie franchises under one corporate brand.

Overall Q3 motion-picture revenue rose 189 percent to $673.5 million.

Within the motion-picture segment, theatrical revenue was $192.9 million, against $8.4 million in 2012, on the strength of the box office from The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2, Sinister, The Impossible and other titles.

Ahead of the March 2 DVD release of The Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn Part 2, home-entertainment revenue was up 43 percent to $233 million.

Looking ahead to an analyst call Tuesday morning, Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer on Monday said in a statement: “The quarter reflected not only the impact of our young adult franchises but strong contributions from the rest of our theatrical releases and our home entertainment and international operations.”