Consumer products licensing was the bright spot in a challenging 2014 for DreamWorks Animation, which saw its films Penguins of Madagascar and Mr. Peabody and Sherman under-perform in theaters. Consumer product revenue rose 77.5% to $22.1 million in the fourth quarter, while segment gross profit rose to $6.1 million due to higher sales of the studio’s merchandise, location-based entertainment and retail development businesses.
For the full year, consumer products revenues decreased 3.9% to $64.8 million, due to a tough comparison with 2013, when DWA sold the 1960s live-action Batman TV series to Fox, and licensed the Kung Fu Panda and DreamWorks brands to Oriental DreamWorks. Excluding those items, consumer products revenues were up 21% for the year with gross profit of $23.7 million, driven by location-based entertainment and merchandise sales.
Overall, DWA posted 2014 revenues of $684.6 million, a drop of 3.2%, and a net loss of $308.3 million, due to a restructuring. Net income in 2013 was $55.7 million.
* Through Dec. 31, 2014 | ||||||
(Unit Sales in Millions) | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Title | Release Date | Worldwide Unit Sales* | ||||
How to Train Your Dragon 2 | 11.12.2014 | 7.5 | ||||
Mr. Peabody & Sherman | 10.14.2014 | 3.4 | ||||
Turbo | 11.12.2013 | 6.3 | ||||
The Croods | 10.02.2013 | 9.0 |