Entertainment One Earnings Drop on Film Unit Weakness
Canadian producer and distributor Entertainment One on Tuesday reported a lower full-year 2019 pre-tax profit on reduced revenue as film business weakness was only partially offset by strong sales of…
Canadian producer and distributor Entertainment One on Tuesday reported a lower full-year 2019 pre-tax profit on reduced revenue as film business weakness was only partially offset by strong sales of its Peppa Pig pre-school property brands.
Toronto-based eOne, which trades on the London Stock Exchange, saw pre-tax profits for the year to March 31 drop 43 percent to £36.8 million (US$46.7 million) from a year-earlier £64.9 million. Revenue was down 9 percent to £941.2 million (US$1.19 billion).
The full-year profit was undercut by higher financing charges and a one-off charge of £68.0 million (US$83 million) related to the impairment of assets within the film distribution businesses and related costs. Adjusted pre-tax profits after removing one-off costs rose 20 percent to £155.9 million (US$203 million).
eOne had fewer movie releases after restructuring its film distribution unit, with key releases being Green Book, Vice and Stan & Ollie, while growth in its family & brands division was spurred by strong consumer product sales of its Peppa Pig property, especially in China.
Revenues at its newly-combined film, TV and music division, which includes The Mark Gordon Company, was down 13 percent to £789.4 million (US$1.02 billion), due to lower transactional, broadcast, licensing and production revenue.
“The work and organizational shifts that we have accomplished over the last few years have positioned the business well in the marketplace, as we reinforced our content creation and ownership anchor and expanded our end-to-end capabilities to ensure we maximize our ability to unlock the power and value of creativity,” said eOne CEO Darren Throop in a statement.
This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.