DreamWorks Reports First-Quarter Loss

DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc (NASDAQ:DWA) reported a first-quarter loss, compared with a year-earlier profit, as the company took an impairment charge related to the weak box office performance of the movie "Mr. Peabody & Sherman."

Shares of the Hollywood studio fell 6 percent to $24.76 in extended trading on Tuesday.

The company took a charge of $57 million due to the tepid performance of "Mr. Peabody & Sherman", a time-travel comedy about a talking genius dog and the boy he adopts.

"The box office shortfall of Mr. Peabody & Sherman is evidence of the current challenges we face within our feature film segment," Chief Executive Jeffrey Katzenberg said in a statement.

As of last weekend, the movie had grossed about $260.8 million worldwide since its release on March 7, according to Box Office Mojo, a website that tracks theater ticket sales.

The studio reported a net loss of $42.9 million, or 51 cents per share for the first quarter ended March 31, compared with a profit of $5.6 million, or 7 cents per share, a year earlier.

Revenue rose 9.3 percent to $147.2 million, helped largely by domestic pay television and DVD sales of "The Croods", a film that tracks a prehistoric family's road trip.

"Mr. Peabody & Sherman", which features the voices of Mel Brooks and Leslie Mann, contributed film revenue of $3 million.

Analysts had expected the company to post a loss of 14 cents per share on revenue of $137.2 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

With three of its last four movies having failed to find favor with audiences, DreamWorks is resting its hopes on the June release of "How to Train Your Dragon 2".

The sequel picks up five years after the protagonist "Hiccup" and his dragon "Toothless" united Vikings and dragons on Berk Island.

DreamWorks said it would release "The Croods" in international pay TV markets in the current quarter.

(Reporting By Lehar Maan in Bangalore; Editing by Ted Kerr)