Latest in Lionsgate Finance

This is the latest effort in Lionsgate’s campaign to take advantage of today’s low interest rates and reduce its annual interest costs. It should save more than $20M a year as a result of two transactions worth $450M made on Friday, and disclosed in SEC filings this morning. The new funds, plus cash on hand, enabled…

The stock is up 3.5% on the surprising announcement. Helped by the strong performance of films including The Hunger Games and The Twilight Saga — and especially the $800M revolving credit facility it negotiated last month — the independent studio says that it paid off “all amounts outstanding” from the $500M it…

Lionsgate shares are down about 3.4% in after-hours trading after it surprised investors by reporting a net loss for the quarter that ended in June. The independent studio lost $44.2M, down from a $10.3M profit last year, on revenues of $471.8M, +80.6%. Revenues exceeded the Street’s forecast of $447.3M. But the loss…

The financial types at Lionsgate are working overtime to take advantage of today’s super low interest rates — and prepare for the 2013 expiration of a major five-year credit facility. The company is just beginning to chat with banks about a new credit line of as much as $750M to replace the current $340M facility…

The production company’s shares dove more than 8% in initial after-hours trading — but recovered to a more modest loss later — after it released what appears to be a dreary report. Lionsgate had a net loss of $1.7M in the last three months of the year vs a $6M loss at the end of 2010, on revenues of $343M, down 23.6%…

The film and TV company had a net loss of $24.6M, an improvement from its $29.7M loss in the quarter last year, on revenues of $358.1M, down 21.5%. That revenue figure was far below the $421.5M that analysts expected. And the net loss, at 18 cents a share, was below the 13 cent loss the Street had forecast. The bottom…

Billionaire Carl Icahn did a big favor for Lionsgate execs when he accumulated more than 33% of the stock in June 2010. That triggered change-in-control clauses in executives’ contracts, accelerating their stock payments for the fiscal year that ended this past March. An SEC filing out today shows that Feltheimer…

Lionsgate Entertainment soundly beat analysts’ profit estimates for the quarter that ended in March, helped by income from The Lincoln Lawyer, VOD showings of its movies and revenue from its interest in EPIX. The company reported net income of $46.1 million for its fiscal fourth quarter, up from a $22.3 million loss…

Canada’s already cozy film market may soon become a little cozier. We hear that the country’s No. 1 independent film distributor, Alliance Films, is angling to acquire one of its largest competitors, Maple Pictures — and is deep into talks with Lionsgate to buy its 10% stake in Maple. Lionsgate is looking to pay down…

UPDATE 1:30 PM: Carl Icahn released the following reaction to Lionsgate shareholders today re-electing current Lionsgate management’s board of directors and not his own proposed 5 directors. from the sound of it, Icahn has zero intention of giving up: We are disappointed that shareholder democracy has failed – or…

The Carl Icahn vs Lionsgate proxy war heated up overnight. That’s because two major proxy advisory firms counseled shareholders to support the entire or majority of Icahn’s dissident slate of directors for the embattled TV/film studio. A Lionsgate insider acknowledged to me that the recommendations were a “mixed bag&#8221…

His $7.50-per-share offer had been set to expire Monday but has been extended to December 2. Icahn is the biggest shareholder in Lionsgate, at 33%. The offer expires on the same day that MGM is supposed to receive confirmation of its bankruptcy plan — Icahn owns 18% of MGM’s debt. Icahn has repeatedly criticized…