Lionsgate sells 1.3m discs above projections after end of format war

[Grubert]

Hollywood Reporter

Lionsgate Entertainment will benefit greatly from Blu-ray's victory in the DVD format war, so shareholders will naturally be rewarded.

SMH Capital analyst David Miller said this week that Lionsgate clears $15 per Blu-ray unit in clear margin for library titles and a whopping $21 for new titles like "War."

And, the kicker is, he estimates Lionsgate sold an additional 1.3 million units of Blu-ray library product relative to his projections just a few weeks ago as the demise of HD DVD has sparked sales for Blu-ray.

As a result, Miller boosted his fiscal fourth-quarter revenue projection from $400.1 million to $419.1 million and his earnings-per-share estimate from 44 cents to 46 cents.

Besides "War," Miller says that Lionsgate has seen improved Blu-ray sales of "Total Recall, "Terminator," the "Saw" series and the "Rambo" box set.

As per usual, Miller noted in his most recent note that, with 5,600 titles, Lionsgate has the "unappreciated distinction of having the largest film library" compared with all major studios.