The bottom line improved in the third quarter for Lionsgate, but it’s still losing money.
Revenue increased 15 percent in the fiscal quarter that ended Dec. 31, from $324 million in the previous year to $371.8 million. Losses narrowed, too, to $65.3 million from $97.8 million in the third quarter of 2009.
Much of the improvement was attributed to a sharp rise in TV production revenue, which spiked 32 percent in the third quarter to $91.5 million, driven by orders for AMC’s "Mad Men," Starz’s "Crash," Showtime’s "Nurse Jackie" and Spike TV’s "Blue Mountain State."
Syndication division Debmar-Mercury, meanwhile, saw a revenue increase of 108 percent, driven by licensing fees for Tyler Perry franchise hits such as "House of Payne" and "Meet the Browns."
The studio also singled out revenue from the TV Guide Network and TVGuide.com, which wasn’t on the books in the third quarter of 2009, as well as reduced theatrical marketing and overhead costs.
Motion picture revenue, meanwhile, dropped 2 percent to $251 million, with "Precious," "Brothers" and "Saw VI" driving that end of the business during the third quarter.
