Warner Music Group releases its Q4 FY 2020 earnings report and reported a loss of $470 million for the year ending in September 2020, against an income of $258 million. The loss has been attributed to the ongoing global pandemic. The company has further posted a $32 million OIBDA against $625 million the last year, even though the company’s adjusted OIBDA, operating income, and the adjusted EBITDA have all increased.
The Big Three record label that returned to the stock market in May, after almost a decade of entirely running private ownership has also disclosed its full-year financials in the analysis.
In spite of the pandemic, the company’s adjusted OIBDA has reportedly increased up to 11 percent to $790 million versus $713 million, the previous year. On the other hand, its adjusted EBITDA has increased 14 percent counting to $837 million versus $737 million in the previous year. The operating income was $88 million compared to $29 million in the quarter of the previous year. All these increases have been attributed to the increase in the streaming revenue, lower variable costs, lower non-cash stock-based compensation expense of $14 million, and also the cost-management efforts.
The Big Three has also reported that the major releases in the U.S. and Japan have enabled physical income to remain steady and flat year over year, at $105 million which is quite a noteworthy point given that the RIAA has previously signed that the overall physical revenue has declined to 23 percent in the 2020s first half, as being compared to 2019s initial period of six months.
Steeve Cooper, the CEO of the Warner Music Group stated in a press statement that they are proud of everything they have accomplished in the past year, despite all the challenging conditions that the world has been facing so far. He even stated that the company is reportedly flat against a record-breaking prior year and also during the quarter when they had grown 11% on an as-reported basis, by excluding the revenue streams that have been most impacted by the COVID-19.
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Warner Music Group has posted its loss back in August and May when the shutdowns caused the live music events and some physical releases to come to a temporary halt. The year 2020 has been quite notable for the Warner Group as it went public back in June, having its stock going up by approximately 20 percent in only its first day of trading. This particular move was quite significant as the China-based company Tencent had purchased a 10 percent stake in the Warner Music Group soon after it decided to go public.