08:28 AM EDT, 05/15/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Boat Rocker Media Inc. ( BRMIF ) , an independent, integrated global entertainment company, on Wednesday reported a first-quarter net loss of $2.5 million, 74% narrower than a loss of $9.5 million a year earlier.

Revenue for the quarter ended March 31 was $51.3 million, down 36% from $79.8 million a year earlier. It said tthe decrease is largely owing to the variance in scripted series deliveries between the two periods where the average revenue per episode is significantly higher than in other genres. Kids and Family recorded a modest decline due to lower service volumes in the quarter compared to the prior year, partially offset by stronger production revenues. It added the Representation segment is showing recovery from the 2023 U.S. labour strikes, although due to expected lags, it generated slightly lower revenues in the quarter than in the same period in 2023.

Adjusted EBITDA for Q1 was $3.2 million, as compared with an adjusted EBITDA loss of $1.8 million a year earlier. This reflects an increase of 280%, the company said, noting the Representation segment performance and Canadian unscripted deliveries largely contributed.

The company said it continues to expect 2024 to be a softer year because of the delays in new content commissions, renewals, production, and paid development, "owing to challenging industry-wide trends exacerbated by the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes".

However, the company is maintaining its target adjusted EBITDA of about $20 million for fiscal 2024. "Management believes this downturn will be temporary and that industry conditions should normalize, resulting in production levels at Boat Rocker returning to those more typical of past performance."

With $35.9 million of cash in hand, the company said it plans to "assertively" invest in content in 2024 to "seed future growth:.

At the end of 2023, Boat Rocker's distribution library of owned and third party IP totaled approximately 9,700 half hours.