DreamWorks Profit Jumps 74% On "Croods" Success

(RTTNews) - DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. (DWA) said Wednesday after the markets closed that its second quarter profit jumped 74% from last year, driven mainly by huge box office success of its latest animated film "The Croods."

The company's quarterly earnings also handily beat analysts' estimate as did its quarterly revenue.

"DreamWorks Animation significantly outperformed in the second quarter, thanks primarily to The Croods' incredibly successful box office run, where it has amassed $584 million worldwide to become the fifth highest grossing movie of the year," said Jeffrey Katzenberg, Chief Executive Officer of DreamWorks Animation.

DreamWorks shares are currently gaining 3.96% in after hours trading after closing the day's regular trading session at $24.76, up 47 cents or 1.93%. The shares trade in a 52-week range of $15.90 to $26.86.

The company is riding high on the success of "The Croods" following the box-office debacle of its previous release, "Rise of the Guardians", for which the company took a $87 million writedown in the fourth quarter.

The Croods, released theatrically on March 22, has reached $186.4 million at the domestic box office and $397.5 million at the international box office for a worldwide gross of $583.9 million to date. The Croods contributed $71.8 million of revenue to the quarter.

Rise of the Guardians contributed $16.7 million of revenue to the quarter, mainly from home entertainment. Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted contributed $48.9 million of revenue to the quarter, mainly from worldwide pay television.

For the second quarter ended June 30, 2013, the Glendale, California-based company reported net income of $22.3 million or $0.26 per share, compared to $12.8 million or $0.15 per share for the year-ago quarter.

On average, 12 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.20 per share for the second quarter.

Revenue for the second quarter rose 31% to $213.44 million from $162.80 million in the same quarter last year. Nine analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $99.35 million for the first quarter.

The company said it expect its third quarter results to be driven by worldwide pay television revenue for Rise of the Guardians and international free television for Kung Fu Panda 2.

Last month, Netflix Inc. (NFLX) signed a multi-year agreement with DreamWorks Animation for new original TV series. The tieup would help Netflix to premier original first-run entertainment content from the producers of global blockbusters 'Shrek,' 'Madagascar,' 'Kung Fu Panda' and 'How to Train your Dragon.' The companies have not revealed the financial aspects of the deal and details of the series.