• by Wayne Friedman , May 26, 2017

Movie and TV production company Lions Gate Entertainment posted strong fiscal fourth-quarter financial results -- helped largely by its pay TV network group Starz.

Starz boosted its media network unit revenues $370.8 million during the period -- up from $100,000 in the year before period.  In December 2016, Lions Gate completed its $4.4 billion acquisition of Starz.

In addition, its motion-pictures unit was 20% higher in revenues to $654 million -- getting strong results from by “La La Land,” “John Wick: Chapter Two,” “The Shack”  and “Tyler Perry's Boo! A Madea Halloween.” Its TV production unit was down 2.5% to $242.6 million.

The unit had unfavorable comparisons to the year-ago period results -- which included record revenue level for “Orange Is The New Black.”

Overall, Lions Gate revenue grew 60% to $1.26 billion from $791.2 million a year ago. Net income rose more than five times -- to $61.5 million from $11.5 million.

Its theatrical movie unit posted a net profit of $52 million versus a loss of $1.3 million a year ago; media networks (Starz) was at a $124.8 million gain versus a $5.6 million loss a year ago; and its TV production unit posted a $13 million segment profit, down 69%.