Sony Pictures Entertainment Q2 Profits Slide To $124M; Impact From Hollywood Strikes Cited

Refresh for latest…: Second-quarter profits at Sony Pictures Entertainment slid to $124 million for the three months ended September 30, 2024. That’s a 39% decrease versus the similar quarter in 2023, on a U.S. dollar basis.  Adjusted OIBDA (Operating Income Before Depreciation and Amortization) came in at $218 million (-26%). This is based on revenues that were down 14% compared to last year, landing at $2.385 billion.

Announcing results from Tokyo, Sony Corp said the drops were attributable to lower series deliveries in the Television Productions unit, in part due to production delays related to the Hollywood strikes in 2023. It also cited higher programming and marketing costs in the India business in Media Networks.

During the July-September period, Sony released five films theatrically, with only one making significant impact – Wayfarer Studios’ It Ends with Us, which began rolling out in August, and has blossomed to $349.2 million global through this past Sunday. Japan is still to release.

In the same period last year, the division released four films — three of which did well over $100 million worldwide.

Versus last quarter, revenues and profits in the Pictures segment were up 10% and nearly 70%, respectively.

Venom: The Last Dance, which was released last month, was at $317 million worldwide through Sunday, though it will factor in next quarter’s report. Notably on deck through the rest of the year is Kraven the Hunter, which releases in December.

Overall, the news was better for the media and electronics conglomerate as a whole, with revenues of $19 billion (2,905.6 trillion yen), a 3% increase on last year’s same quarter. Operating income was up 73% to $2.98 billion (455.1 billion yen). Net profits rose 69%. Reasons for the hikes were significant increases in Games and Network Services, Financial Services and Music.

Full year forecasts for the company were revised upwards by 1%, while the Pictures division was revised downward, also by 1%.

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