Refresh for latest…: Sony Corp is reporting its full year 2019 earnings from Tokyo this morning with a 28.4% dollar increase in profits at Sony Pictures Entertainment. The division recorded $628M in operating income, up from $489M the previous year. The significant hike, which is through March 31, 2020 just after the coronavirus pandemic had shuttered cinemas globally, is down to higher worldwide theatrical sales versus 2018 which included the strong performances of last summer’s Spider-Man: Far From Home and the later releases of Jumanji: The Next Level and Bad Boys For Life.
Also contributing are higher licensing revenues for TV productions, though all increases were partially offset by a decrease in sales for Media Networks primarily due to the impact of the channel portfolio review that was undertaken in the previous fiscal year.
Sony/Marvel’s latest Spider-Man weaved a $1.31B web at the global box office while holiday release Jumanji: The Next Level scored $797M worldwide, and early 2020 threequel Bad Boys For Life cruised to $419M.
In reporting its full year figures, Sony noted that box office revenue has been severely impacted by the closure of movie theaters around the world amid the COVID-19 crisis. The studio has not been able to release a portion of its already completed titles in theaters, moving a host of the slate into 2021. Production schedules of new features and TV shows are significantly delayed and as a result, box office and revenues generated after theatrical release, including home entertainment and TV licensing sales, are expected to decrease over the next months.
Still, digital rental and sell-through for films which Sony released theatrically before the pandemic have been strong. In Television Productions, revenues are beginning to be impacted by delays in the delivery of shows to networks and digital distribution services.
Overall, net income attributable to Sony Corporation’s stockholders was down 36% to 582.2B yen for the fiscal year.
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