Lions Gate Roars
Lions Gate today reported strong financial results for its fiscal 2015, boosted by the performance of hit movies such as “Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1” and TV successes such as “Orange is the New Black.”
The Santa Monica entertainment company’s net income grew to $182 million ($1.31 a share), up 20 percent from the $152 million ($1.11 a share) the company made in the previous fiscal year.
The company’s revenue of $2.4 billion was a 9 percent drop from the prior year’s $2.63 billion, but that was largely due to a smaller release slate of 10 theatrical films compared to 13 in the previous fiscal year.
Lions Gate has 14 movies set for release in fiscal 2016 and will hope they perform better than the recent Johnny Depp flop “Mortdecai,” which was partly responsible for significantly lower earnings in Lions Gate’s fourth quarter.
The company’s net income of $19.5 million (14 cents a share) for the three months ended March 31 represented a 60 percent drop from the same period last year, when net income was $49.1 million (35 cents).
Lions Gate announced earnings after markets closed Thursday. Shares closed the day at $31.98, down 1 percent, but ticked up slightly in after-hours trading to $32.10.
Foreclosures Up in County, State as Banks Clear Inventory
Foreclosure filings rose in L.A. County and the state in April, mirroring a nationwide trend spurred by banks seeking to sell repossessed properties amid a rise in home prices, according to a report released Thursday.
The county filings – which include default notices, repossessions and scheduled auctions – were up 11 percent from the previous month and 15 percent from a year earlier, according to RealtyTrac, an Irvine real estate data provider.
In California, they were up 5.5 percent since March and 1.6 percent over April 2014.
Distressed housing sales typically are detrimental to a market, but with inventory low in many cities, the decision to unload the properties could actually stimulate sales, said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac, in a prepared statement.
“Banks are liquidating these distressed properties in a seller’s market with a low supply of inventory for sale, which should help them sell quickly and at a price that is relatively close to full market value,” he said.
The report found that distressed properties sold by banks were, on average, closing at 100 percent of their assessed value in California, compared to 87 percent nationwide.
Nationwide, foreclosure filings were reported on 125,875 properties in April, up 3 percent from the previous month and up 9 percent from a year ago. One in every 1,049 housing units was in foreclosure during the month, an 18-month high.
The report also noted that initial foreclosure starts are at pre-recession levels, indicating April’s surge in sales amounted to more of a “clean up” from the housing crisis, rather than the start of a new one.
