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Lions Gate swings to Q3 profit on "Hunger Games" success

Last updated: 17:15 09 Nov 2012 GMT, First published: 18:15 09 Nov 2012 GMT

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Lions Gate (NYSE:LGF) shares rose Friday, a day after reporting it swung to a second quarter profit, as revenue nearly doubled on the home release of "The Hunger Games" film, as well as on box-office sales on several feature films. 

Net income was $75.5 million, or 53 cents per diluted share, for the quarter that ended September 30, compared to a net loss of $25.3 million, or 19 cents per share, a  year ago. 

Revenue rose 97 per cent to $707.0 million, driven by strong home entertainment revenue from the global blockbuster "The Hunger Games", and domestic box office revenue from films including "The Expendables 2", and "The Possession". It also saw strong international revenue. 

Lionsgate's filmed entertainment backlog, or already contracted future revenue not yet recorded, was a record $1.2 billion at September 30.

"The quarter reflected many of the core values that have driven our growth over the past 12 years – creation and renewal of major film franchises, strong and consistent library performance and contributions from our diverse mix of businesses worldwide," said Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer.  

"With the home entertainment release of the first film in our HUNGER GAMES franchise making significant contributions to our results in the quarter, we're clearly on track to meet or exceed our expectations this year."  

Overall motion picture revenue for the second quarter was $608.0 million, an increase of 178 per cent from the prior year quarter.  Within the motion picture segment, theatrical revenue rose fivefold to $116.2 million. 

Shares in the motion picture giant surged 12.5 per cent early Friday afternoon, lately changing hands at $16.42 as of 1:15pm ET. 

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