Sony Pictures Entertainment reported $2.3 billion in revenues for its fiscal third quarter, down 12% year over year. Operating income during the three months ending in December was $197 million, off 11%.
The news came Wednesday when parent Sony Group reported a 22% growth in profits during the quarter helped in part by its music, gaming and imaging divisions. Sales grew 1%. The Tokyo-based conglom also raised its outlook for its fiscal year that ends in March.
SPE in the year-ago quarter benefited from the theatrical success of Columbia Pictures’ Venom: The Last Dance, which grossed $478M at the worldwide box office. The best performing theatrical release of the most recent quarter was Sony/Crunchyroll’s Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, which grossed $117M globally through December 31.
Its operating income loss during Q3 was due the decrease in sales, offset by lower marketing costs for theatrical releases, the company said.
The division kept its full-year guidance steady.
Crunchyroll previously helped SPE in the second quarter ending last September, when Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle grossed an outsized $312M of its eventual $730M global gross.
