Motion Int'l gets revenues moving
Prod'n co. posts record returns
The Montreal-based production company, which last spring changed its name from Coscient Group, posted net profits for the year of C$2.6 million ($1.8 million), or 8¢ per share, turning around a loss last year of $808,000, or 5¢ cents per share. Revenues for the year ended July 31 were $84.6 million, up 6.8% from the year before.
"The restructuring is obviously unfolding very positively," said Montreal-based media analyst Adam Shine of CIBC Wood Gundy, referring to the actions of new management, which last year revamped the company's operations, production slate and library.
Positive changes
He noted that its new strategy of entering into the international marketplace seems to be progressing successfully.
"It's going to take time for them to establish their name in English Canada, let alone the international markets," Shine said. Coscient Group has traditionally been known, primarily in Quebec, as a producer of French-lingo programming for that audience. But Shine sees the company's name change to Motion (after its internationally known distribution arm, which Coscient purchased from Astral in 1996) and the work Motion has thus far produced for the international market as steps in the right direction.
Low expectations
Based on the numbers released Friday, particularly from the distribution end, Shine expects that analysts' expectations will be revised upwards. With $2 million from international sales, distribution-generated revenues hit $9.2 million for the quarter compared with $4.6 million for the same period last year.
"Management would want to keep (estimates) down in an effort to manage expectations, which makes sense," he said, "but in light of the strength that we've seen in the distribution side of the business, we suspect we'll have to revise our fiscal estimates upwards."
Motion is Quebec's largest independent producer and the second largest in Canada.
