Consumer Products arm sees revenue grow 12% to $45.7m during period, with the strength of the Peanuts brand highlighted.
WildBrain has reported its Q3 2021 financial results, with the Consumer Products arm – WildBrain CPLG – putting in a solid showing for the period.
Consumer Products revenue grew 12% to $45.7 million in Q3 2021 vs $40.9 million in Q3 2020. YTD 2021 (for the nine months up to 31 March, 2021) revenue was $131.0 million vs $135.4 million in YTD 2020, reflecting the impact of COVID-19 on the global retail sector.
The higher revenue in Q3 was due to the strength of the Peanuts brand, which experienced strong licensing royalties in categories such as fleece apparel and pet products and services, as well as increased commissions from WildBrain CPLG due to its broadening client portfolio and licensing rights.
For WildBrain overall, revenue increased 4% to $102.2 million in Q3 2021 (versus $98.3 million in Q3 2020). YTD 2021 revenue grew to $339.9 million compared with $332.7 million in YTD 2020. Net loss improved to $26.5 million in Q3 2021 vs a net loss of $221.7 million in Q3 2020.
WildBrain Spark revenue was $9.6 million in Q3 2021 vs $9.5 million in Q3 2020.
Key highlights from the period included the company signing multi-year exclusive partnerships with SEGA and Netflix to produce a Netflix Original series based on Sonic the Hedgehog, under which it will participate across multiple revenue streams. Production has begun on the new animated series – titled Sonic Prime – to premiere worldwide in 2022.
In addition, WildBrain CPLG expanded representation of the emoji brand across Europe including the UK, Germany and other territories. Last week also saw the announcement of emojitown, a new digital first series coupled with a licensing programme.
“During the quarter, we continued to both increase our pipeline and sign long-term, quality agreements for our own IP as well as IP from partners who want access to our unique strengths across content, creative and our WildBrain Spark network,” commented Aaron Ames, cfo at WildBrain. “While these deals take time to manifest in our results, they provide a strong foundation for future growth with meaningful upside in consumer products.
“This disciplined approach, of layering on strong contracted, profitable partnerships, enabled us to refinance our corporate debt on highly favourable terms in Q3, including removing the financial maintenance covenant on our term loan and extending the maturities on both the term loan and revolver. We are continuing to enhance our financial flexibility to drive our digital, content and brand priorities.”
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