Refresh for latest…: Sony Pictures Entertainment recorded $179 million in operating income for the third quarter ending December 31, 2022. That figure reps an 86% decrease on a dollar basis versus the same period last year, though it’s tough to compare apples to apples here since Q3 2021 had a massive assist from the phenomenal global box office performance of Spider-Man: No Way Home along with the success of Venom: Let There Be Carnage.
Also cited as culprits for the swing were lower revenues for television productions versus Q3 2021 which benefited from the licensing of Seinfeld and the absence of a gain from the transfer of GSN Games business in Q3 2021. The full-year forecast for the segment remains unchanged from Sony’s last earnings report, with 115 billion yen ($893.7 million) in profits expected for fiscal year 2023.
During Q3 2022, Sony releases included Lyle, Lyle Crocodile which grossed nearly $100 million worldwide, and smartly held on to UK rights for Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical which had made $25 million in the market by year’s end. Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody squeaked in at the end of December with $25 million global.
The rest of 2023 includes such titles as Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Priyanka Chopra Jonas/Celine Dion pic Love Again, Gran Turismo in partnership with PlayStation, Kraven the Hunter and the Ghostbusters sequel.
Reporting the Q3 earnings from Tokyo this afternoon local time, overall Sony Corp revenues were up 13% to 3.4 trillion yen ($26.4 billion) but operating income was down 8% to $3.3 billion.
Sony also announced a change to its group management structure with Hiroki Totoki succeeding Kenichiro Yoshida as Group President and adding COO to his titles. Yoshida will remain Chairman and CEO while Totoki retains his CFO title.
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