Sony Pictures Entertainment has posted operating income of $381M (50.7BN yen) for the first quarter of this year, up 70% on the $232M posted in the same period last year on a currency basis. Revenues grew 41% to $2.58BN (341.4BN yen), compared with last year’s $1.87BN.

The numbers were significantly impacted by by local currency movements, with the U.S. dollar in a position of strength as the yen dwindles.

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Sony noted there had been an increase in series deliveries, higher TV licensing and home entertainment revenues during the April-June period, plus higher sales of streaming services, which included the impact of buying anime streamer Crunchyroll.

It’s a great result for Sony, considering it has been a quiet quarter movie-wise, with Mobius being the only release of note during the period. The Columbia Pictures superhero film actually underperformed, taking just $164M worldwide. Spider-Man: No Way Home was released on DVD in April, having already been available in electronic sell-through. Sony noted its lack of releases in its results released this morning.

The next quarter will include Where the Crawdads Sing and Spanish-language comedy hit Padre No Hay Mas Que Uno 3, both of which are already in cinemas. Brad Pitt vehicle Bullet Train and Viola Davis-starring The Woman King are both nearing debut.

Overall, Sony Corp had a strong Q1, with sales revenues hitting nearly $17BN (2.27TN yen), up nearly 55% year-on-year, with operating income up 27% at $2.3BN (307BN yen).

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Credit: Jesse Whittock, Deadline, July 28th 2022