HBO owner reduces losses to 966 million with movies like “Dune”
The American group Warner Bros Discovery, which also owns CNN, generated revenues of 9.9 billion dollars until March. The adjusted EBITDA decreased by 20% due to the success of “Hogwarts Legacy” in the same quarter of 2022, while “Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice” had lower revenues in the last three months.
Warner Bros Discovery, the provider of the HBO streaming platform and CNN channel, reported a loss of 966 million dollars (about 900 million euros) in the first quarter on Thursday, marking a 10% improvement compared to the months of January, February, and March 2023.
The loss includes 1.879 million dollars (around 1.751 million euros) for intangible amortization and restructuring expenses, according to the company’s financial report resulting from the merger of Warner Bros and Discovery in 2022.
Total revenues for the first quarter amounted to 9.958 billion dollars, a 7% decrease; however, the movie “Dune: Part II” stood out as the highest-grossing film of the beginning of 2024, with over 700 million dollars in global revenue. Meanwhile, “Godzilla vs. Kong: The New Empire” grossed over 1.2 billion dollars at the box office.
The adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) was 2.102 billion dollars (-20%) due to the success of “Hogwarts Legacy” in the same quarter of the previous year, while “Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice” experienced significantly lower revenues in the last three months. On the other hand, free cash flow increased to 390 million dollars.
The president and CEO of Warner Bros Discovery highlighted the “significant growth in our streaming business with a strong acceleration in ad sales, generating nearly 90 million in positive EBITDA in the quarter.” “We will soon launch Max in 29 countries across Europe, and Max’s content lineup next year will be one of the strongest ever,” stated David Zaslav.
In Portugal, HBO Max will have a new logo, be rebranded as just “Max,” and start broadcasting live sports content from May 21 onwards, as announced during the streaming service change presentation in Lisbon on Tuesday.
“Warner Bros Pictures also had a strong start to the year and became the first studio to reach one billion dollars in international and global box office revenue,” added the group’s president and CEO in the message accompanying the financial report released this morning.
