SHREK THE THIRD was once again the largest driver of the quarter for DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc., contributing approximately $92.1 million in revenue, primarily from its significant international box office receipts in the period. To date, the film has reached approximately $793 million in box office on a worldwide basis, making it the third-highest-grossing animated film of all time.
Thus, for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, DreamWorks Animation reported total revenue of $160.8 million and net income of $47 million, or $.47 per share on a fully diluted basis. This compares to revenue of $55.6 million and net income of $10.5 million, or $.10 per share on a fully diluted basis, for the same period in 2006.
"We are extremely pleased with the theatrical results of SHREK THE THIRD -- especially with its performance overseas, where it has nearly equaled the box office success of SHREK 2," stated Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of DreamWorks Animation.
The company's 2006 summer release OVER THE HEDGE contributed approximately $17.8 million of revenue, driven largely from the start of its release in international pay television, as well as its continued performance in home entertainment. Through the third quarter of 2007, OVER THE HEDGE has reached an estimated 14.2 million units shipped, net of actual returns and estimated future returns. FLUSHED AWAY, the company's second release of 2006, delivered $17.3 million in revenue, driven largely by its release in domestic pay television as well as its continued performance in home entertainment. FLUSHED AWAY has reached approximately 5.7 million home video units shipped, net of actual returns and estimated future returns, by the end of the third quarter. The company's 2005 releases, WALLACE AND GROMIT: CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT and MADAGASCAR, contributed third-quarter revenue of $3.9 million and $5.8 million, respectively. The remaining film library contributed $23.9 million in revenue for the quarter, which was driven by both SHREK 2 and SHARK TALE international free television as well as continued catalog home entertainment performance.
Cost of revenue for the third quarter of 2007 equaled $70 million, while SG&A totaled $23.8 million, including $6.3 million of stock compensation expense. The year-over-year increase in SG&A is primarily related to higher employee-related costs, including the company-wide incentive bonus plan and increased stock compensation expense, both of which were impacted by the better performance of the 2007 films, as well as professional fees.
Results for the quarter also included a tax benefit related to the company's tax-sharing agreement with a stockholder of approximately $25.8 million, which resulted in a lower effective tax rate. This benefit was partially offset by a $22 million increase in the income tax benefit payable to the stockholder as per the agreement, resulting in an overall net increase to net income of $3.9 million or approximately $.04 per share on a fully diluted basis.
Looking ahead, DreamWorks Animation reiterated its expectation that revenue for the fourth quarter will be primarily driven by the home entertainment performance of SHREK THE THIRD, which will be released domestically on Nov. 13.
Meanwhile, BEE MOVIE opens domestically on Nov. 2. As is typical for most of its films' theatrical releases, DreamWorks Animation does not anticipate generating significant revenue in the fourth quarter from this title, as its distributor will likely not have recouped the upfront marketing and distribution costs.
Also in the fourth quarter, the company's first-ever televised holiday special, SHREK THE HALLS, will debut on ABC on November 28, 2007. The company expressed that this additional product will not have a material financial impact on the fourth quarter.
In addition DreamWorks Animation announced that it has slated as its fall 2010 theatrical release a superhero send-up acquired under the working title of MASTER MIND. The film will be produced by Lara Breay and Denise Nolan Cascino from Red Hour Films, Ben Stiller's production company, and directed by Cameron Hood and Kyle Jefferson (FIRST FLIGHT short).
DreamWorks Animation has theatrically released a total of 14 animated feature films, including ANTZ, SHREK, SHREK 2, SHARK TALE, MADAGASCAR, WALLACE & GROMIT: THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT, OVER THE HEDGE, FLUSHED AWAY and SHREK THE THIRD. BEE MOVIE opens in theaters Nov. 2.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
