Lionsgate has chosen to exit seven international territories for Lionsgate+, its rebranded international operations for Starz, leading to a second quarter loss of $1.81 billion due to one-time charges.

The streaming lining move comes as Hollywood studio released its second quarter financial results while exploring a possible sale or spinoff of the premium cable and streaming platform or its studio business. Lionsgate will exit Lionsgate+ markets in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Benelux, the Nordic regions and in Japan.

The studio will remain with Starz internationally in the UK, Latin America and Canada. Lionsgate’s base of streaming subscribers for Starz slowed its growth during the second quarter, as the studio reported its number of global streaming subscribers for Starz rose to 27.3 million for the three months to Sept. 31, 2022 in an increasingly competitive global streaming arena.

That’s up just 1 million subscribers compared to 26.3 million at the end of its first quarter of fiscal 2023 and a rise of 52 percent year-over-year.

Lionsgate recorded a $218.9 million restructuring charge around the streamlined Lionsgate+ reach, and another $1.48 billion non-cash impairment charge related to its acquisition of Starz in 2016 to take account of changes in future free cash flow projections.

The studio in its financial result posted a net loss of $1.81 billion, compared to a year profit of $3.1 million, on overall revenues of $875.2 million, against revenues of $887.8 million in the same period of fiscal 2022.

Ahead of an analyst call after the market closes, investors will look for an update on current strategic talks, including possibly spinning off the studio business into a separate stock. The release of Lionsgate’s latest results comes amid strategic talks to potentially spin off the Starz platform or the studio, balanced by pressure on Starz valuation as media stocks fall in value across the industry amid increased cord cutting and content competition.

Starz is a pay TV channel similar to HBO and Showtime, and also offers a streaming service aimed at domestic and international audiences. Its programming includes the Power franchise. Lionsgate acquired Starz in 2016 for $4.4 billion. The studio has set its subscriber target at 50 million to 60 million by 2025.

Lionsgate has been exploring its options for Starz, including a possible separation of the pay TV and streaming business and its studio operations. The goal appears to be creating two standalone companies so investors can value the Starz and studio assets separately.

“The path to realizing a higher stock price is moving forward with the split ASAP, with key concerns including the cash tax hit (we expect a taxable separation) and division of debt between the Starz and studios. Once complete, we expect significant interest in studios as the driver to a higher stock price, Wells Fargo analyst Steven Cahall said in a Nov. 1 investors note.