Canadian TV division shrinks
HALIFAX – Kids and family content company DHX Media, now Wildbrain, saw some positive impact on its first quarter results from the ad-driven online video on demand business.
Company revenue for the first quarter of 2020, ended September 30, 2019 increased 8% to $112.3 million compared to Q1 last year. Cash flow from operations increased to $18.7 million in Q1 2020 vs negative cash flow of $10 million in Q1 2019.
The company also said $7.6 million was paid down on the term loan in Q1 2020 from excess cash flow and adjusted EBITDA rose to $19.6 million compared to $17.3 million in Q1 2019.
However, net loss was $16 million in the quarter against a net loss of $2.4 million in Q1 2019, affected by one-time reorganization charges and a non-cash foreign exchange loss, the company said.
WildBrain Spark, the part of the company which creates and manages preschool and children’s entertainment content on platforms such as YouTube, Amazon Video Direct and Roku, saw views grow 66% to over 12 billion in Q1. Revenue there rose 37% to $22.1 million compared to last year’s Q1.
"We reached a new milestone with over four billion views a month,” noted CEO Eric Ellenbogen in the press release. “We also delivered Snoopy in Space, our first new original Peanuts content for Apple TV+ that debuted worldwide this month.”
“The recently announced rights offering is an important vote of confidence from our shareholders – backstopped by our largest shareholder – that strengthens WildBrain's financial position and is a further step towards long-term sustainable growth. In the six months since taking on my advisory position and two months now as CEO, I've become more energized and enthused about the untapped opportunities across our portfolio of assets. It will take time and investment to fully unlock this value, but I couldn't be more optimistic about our future.”
Distribution revenue (excluding WildBrain Spark) rose 78% to $15.6 million vs. $8.8 million a year ago, driven by a large library deal with CBS All Access, added the company.
Wildbrain of course, also owns the TV services Family Channel, CHRGD, Family Junior and Telemagino in Canada. That division, still called DHX Television in the company’s report, saw a 9.6% decline in quarterly revenue to $12 million at September 30, 2019 as subscriber revenues dropped by $1.5 million compared to the end of the prior year’s Q1. Profit in that segment dipped 15% to $5.22 million.
