In a tough economic climate, Technicolor's first quarter 2013 revenues contraction was held in check by the good performance of disc replication. Group revenues from continuing operations fell from €800 million in Q1 2012 to €775 million in Q1 2013, though calculated at constant scope and currency, revenues were up 2.2%.

Disc replication volumes grew a sharp 34% to 322 million units in 1Q 2013 from 297 million units the same period last year. Of note, DVD replication numbers did not contract; they remain stable, from 248 million units last year's Q1 to 249 million units this year's Q1. Over the same period, Blu-ray replication unit volumes rose from 27 million to 54 million - 98% up. Games suffered a 26% decline - from 16 million discs in Q1 2012 to 12 million in Q1 2013.

In the first quarter of 2013, combined Standard DVD and Blu-ray volumes increased by 9%, driven by stable DVD volume in combination with strong Blu- ray growth of almost 100% over the first quarter of 2012. Technicolor says volume growth was supported in part by a strong slate of new release titles in the quarter, which mainly included The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Warner), Wreck-It-Ralph (Disney), Les Miserables (Universal), Rise of the Guardians (Paramount/DreamWorks) and Django Unchained (Weinstein).

Growth in Blu-ray volumes in the first quarter was further bolstered "by selective share increases across the existing customer base." In addition, the ongoing popularity with consumers of multi-disc DVD/Blu-ray 'combo-packs' and other special-edition sets has continued to help drive strong disc replication demand for both DVD and Blu-ray.

Story filed 29.04.13