‘Chernobyl’ Producer Sister Posts $18.6M Loss Due To Covid & Expansion As Company “Lays Foundations For Future Growth”

deadline.com:

EXCLUSIVE: Elisabeth Murdoch, Jane Featherstone and Stacey Snider’s Chernobyl producer Sister has posted a near-$20M loss due to continued disruption caused by the Covid pandemic and expansion investment, with CFO Chris Fry stating that the transatlantic indie has “laid the foundations for future growth.” In Sister’s full year accounts to December 31 2021, seen by Deadline, the company recorded an adjusted EBITDA of $18.6M, more than double the previous set of accounts’ $7.7M loss, although those accounts are incomparable as they were recorded over an 18-month period.

At $35.9M, revenues were also “significantly lower than expected,” according to the document, which was put down to “the continued impact of Covid and subsequently delays to the production schedule of programmes.” A number of shows in progress including BBC double This is Going to Hurt and The Split season three, along with Sky/HBO comic horror The Baby, could not be delivered on time due to Covid and, going forwards, Sister hopes to avoid this happening, with virtually all restrictions now lifted.

Sister had net assets of $56.8M and cash and cash equivalents of $27M at the end of the year. The accounts put the EBITDA loss down to “investment in creative and operational staff in the group’s U.S.

operations and the buildout of infrastructure alongside the increased losses due to the results of joint ventures and associates,” all of which was in line with the “broader strategic plan.” Across the year, Sister staffed up in the U.S.