Warner Bros. Discovery has announced it is set to lose up to massive $500 million “predominantly due to the impact of the strikes” according to THR.
The news was revealed in a regulatory filing on Tuesday, the company lowering its 2023 adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) forecast to $10.5 billion-$11.0 billion – a hit of around $300 million-$500 million.
CEO David Zaslav did not detail when he expects the strikes could end, but the filing says the company “now assumes the financial impact to WBD of these strikes will persist through the end of 2023.” Zaslav will reportedly continue to update its projections as 2023 continues.
At the same time, the company’s projections for free cash flow in 2023 have been raised to $5 billion – largely thanks to record-breaking box office numbers for “Barbie” which has already made approximately $1.384 billion at the worldwide box office.
The figure that Warner cites as its losses from the strike is multiple times the estimated annual cost to studios that both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA have estimated their proposals would cost the studio.
Back in May it was estimated the WGA’s deal would cost Warner Bros. Discovery around $47 million annually, whilst SAG-AFTRA’s proposals are estimated to only cost each studio around $23 million per year.
For now, both strikes are set to continue with no end current in sight for either industrial action.
Source: THR
