Posted in: Comics, IDW | Tagged: idw, IDW Media Holdings

IDW Media Holdings Loses Another $1.5 Million in Q3 2019

Published Fri, 13 Sep 2019 12:30:25 -0500

IDW Media Holdings, the parent company of IDW Publishing, continues to lose money, their latest financial report for Q3 2019 reveals. IDWM reported over $1.5 million in losses for the period from May 1st to July 31st, listed in the opening statement of the press release as "a net loss per share of ($0.20) on revenue of $11.5 million."

Despite the losses, IDWM highlighted several projects from their publishing and television businesses, including the success of George Takei's They Called Us Enemy, the launch of Clover Press, and the greenlighting of a fourth season of Wynonna Earp. Additionally, the company expects to deliver October Faction and V-Wars to Netflix in during the fourth quarter of 2019 and Locke & Key in the first quarter of 2020, which will result in revenue for IDW Entertainment.

Here's what IDW Media Holdings Chairman and CEO Howard Jonas had to say:

We are driving fundamental change throughout IDW Media, bringing strategic focus and financial discipline to systematically enhance shareholder value and realize the full potential of our extensive IP library and creative capabilities.

At IDW Publishing, the extraordinary success of George Takei's They Called Us Enemy reflects our focus on identifying and developing unique, powerful, creator-owned content that can reach new audiences. We are including with this release a picture from a standing-room-only book signing in Los Angeles that says more about the power of this book than words can convey.

At IDW Entertainment, we are making good progress toward the delivery of October Faction and V-Wars in the fourth quarter of this calendar year and of Locke and Key in the first quarter of next year. Financing arrangements for Locke and Key represent our pivot to production finance models that limit our downside exposure while retaining upside potential.

And here's the P&L highlights:

As you can see, the bulk of the losses came from IDW Publishing, with over a million in losses even discounting the $171,000 expense of launching Clover Press. Revenue for IDW Publishing and IDW Media Holdings overall is up from last quarter but down from Q3 2018. CTM Media, IDW Media Holdings' division that prints things like travel brochures, did make a profit.

Here's what IDW listed as the financial takeaways in the press release:

Revenue increased to $11.5 million from $7.8 million in 2Q19 and decreased from $14.2 million in 3Q18. The sequential increase reflects sales of They Called Us Enemy at IDWP, and seasonally strong sales at CTM Media.

The year-over-year decrease reflects licensing revenue at IDWE from season three of Wynonna Earp recognized in 3Q18 and, at IDWP, revenue from Zombies vs Robots recognized in 3Q18 as well as industry-wide softness in the direct market channel.

Loss per share decreased to ($0.20) from ($0.61) in 2Q19 and increased from ($0.08) in 3Q18. The sequential improvement was driven primarily by seasonally stronger tourism-derived revenue at CTM and sales of They Called Us Enemy at IDWP. The year-over-year increase was driven primarily by the revenue decreases mentioned above and IDW Media Holdings initial investment in Clover Press.

IDWE expects to recognize revenue and expenses from the productions of October Faction and V-Wars upon delivery to Netflix in Q4 CY2019.

IDW Medias cash balance at July 31st was $13.7 million.

In Q2 2019, IDW Media Holdings lost $3.7 million dollars, leading one large investor, ADW Capital, to call for a sale of the company and IDW to engage J.P. Morgan Chase to evaluate the prospect of taking on a "strategic partner." However, IDW was able to raise $23 million by selling more Class B stock to existing investors, though the largest buyer of said stock was Howard Jonas himself.

At press time, IDW could not be reached for comment. More details below: