SOUTH PARK - LIONS GATE THROWS A WRENCH IN ICAHN'S PLANS

LIONS GATE THROWS A WRENCH IN ICAHN'S PLANS

Whatever designs corporate raider Carl Icahn may have had on Lions Gate Entertainment were dealt a setback Monday with word that the company experienced a whopping 30-percent rise in profits, largely due to its TV successes and its much criticized (by Icahn) acquisition of TV Guide Network and TVGuide.com. The company reported net income of $36.3 million on revenue of $387.7 million. Analysts had expected the company to report a loss. While its movie business reported a 6-percent rise in revenue, TV revenue soared 112 percent to $87.2 million from $41.1 million during the comparable period a year ago, thanks primarily to such cable series as Weeds, Nurse Jackie, Tyler Perry's House of Payne, and South Park. TV Guide Network and TVGuide.com brought in $27.8 million. Icahn, who owns 17.7 percent on Lions Gate's shares, had been highly critical of the company's management and had threatened to launch a proxy contest at the company's annual meeting on September 15. Early today (Tuesday), the company announced that it had reached a deal with Redbox to distribute its DVDs through the kiosk operator. (Universal and Fox, on the other hand, are attempting to block Redbox from using their DVDs within 30 days of their release.)

11/08/2009