Image Entertainment DVD Revenues On The Rise

Martin Greenwald President/Chief Executive Officer for Image Entertainment Inc. announced its projected fourth quarter results, which ended on March 31, 1999. Greenwald stated ""Our net sales of DVD programming to both traditional and Internet retailers remained strong in the quarter."" Net sales are expected to exceed $22,500,000, an increase of 40 percent from $15,905,000 for the prior-year fourth quarter and comparable to net sales for its third quarter ended December 31, 1998. The Company expects DVD net sales for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 1999 to be greater than $16,500,000, an increase of over 165 percent from $6,183,000 for the comparable 1998 quarter and a slight increase over DVD net sales for its third quarter ended December 31, 1998. Historically, the companyís third quarter has been the strongest revenue quarter for the fiscal year, reflecting the Holiday selling season. During the fourth quarter, the company believes it experienced carry-over demand for DVD programming due to strong Holiday season DVD-Video player sales. Image expects consolidated net sales for its fiscal year ended March 31, 1999 to be greater than $76,000,000, comparable to consolidated net sales of $75,516,000 for the fiscal year ended March 31, 1998. The company expects DVD net sales for its fiscal year ended March 31, 1999 to be greater than $45,000,000, an increase of over 180 percent from $15,700,000 for fiscal 1998.Greenwald said, ""I am pleased that our net sales of DVD programming to both traditional and Internet retailers remained strong in the quarter following the Holiday selling season. Our DVD sales to Internet retailers during that quarter were in excess of 20 percent of our total DVD net sales, versus approximately 3 percent for the comparable prior year quarter. We continue to provide DVD programming on a nonexclusive basis to most of the major on-line retailers, including Amazon.com, DVDExpress.com, Reel.com, Netflix.com, as well as our recently acquired subsidiary KenCranes.com. Greenwald continued, ""Our fourth quarter DVD sales will be in excess of 70 percent of total consolidated net sales for the quarter, a significant increase over the 38% reported for the comparable prior-year period. Approximately 50 percent of our fourth quarter DVD net sales will come from our exclusive programming, which is higher than the 46 percent for our prior-year fourth quarter. Further, we expect to report a profitable fourth quarter and full fiscal year ended March 31, 1999.Image has also opened its new distribution facility in Las Vegas, Nevada, while its headquarters will remain in Chatsworth, California. For more information, contact Image Entertainment at 818-407-9100 or visit the Image Website at www.image-entertainment.com.