Lions Gate Entertainment Names James Barge CFO, Succeeding Keegan

(RTTNews) - Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. (LGF) said Friday that it has appointed James Barge as its chief financial officer, succeeding 25-year company veteran James Keegan. The appointment of Barge, a former executive of media conglomerate Viacom Inc. (VIA, VIAB), is effective October 1, 2013. He will report to Lionsgate Chief Executive Officer Jon Feltheimer.

Santa Monica, California-based Lionsgate, the company behind "Twilight" series and "Hunger Games" movies, said it has asked Keegan to remain as a consultant until January 3, 2014 to assist with the transition to his successor. Keegan's retirement as CFO is effective October 1, 2013.

Feltheimer said, "Jim Keegan has provided 25 years of exemplary service to the Lionsgate family, and he will be missed. When he decided to retire, we were fortunate that Jimmy Barge was already working with us on a number of financial initiatives and was available to hit the ground running as our new CFO."

Keegan has been CFO of Lionsgate for the past eleven years, and was responsible for all aspects of the company's financial planning, forecasting, financial management, accounting and capital structure. He led Lionsgate's financial team during a period in which the company paid down its $500 million Summit term loan more than two years early and refinanced most of its other debt.

In 2012, Lionsgate announced a new five-year, $800 million revolving credit facility with a JPMorgan-led syndicate of banks. In addition, the company reported its best financial results ever in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013.

A 25-year veteran of the entertainment industry, Keegan has previously served as CFO of Lionsgate predecessor companies Artisan Entertainment and Trimark Pictures.

Barge served as executive vice president and CFO of Viacom from 2010 to 2012 and as executive vice president, controller, tax and treasury, from 2008 to 2010. Previously, he served a 13-year tenure at Time Warner Inc. (TWX), ultimately serving as senior vice president, controller and chief accounting officer.

Prior to his tenure at Viacom and Time Warner, Barge spent 13 years at Ernst & Young, where he rose to the positions of industry leader of the consumer products group and regional partner.

Lionsgate said in early June that CEO Feltheimer's tenure has been extended until May 28, 2018 under a new long-term agreement with the company. In addition to Feltheimer, Vice Chairman Michael Burns, Co-Chief Operating Officers Steve Beeks and Brian Goldsmith, as well as General Counsel and Chief Strategic Officer Wayne Levin, have all signed new long-term agreements with the company in the past year.

In early August, Lionsgate reported a turnaround to profit in the first quarter, led largely by growth in revenues at its TV production and home entertainment segments and as well as on lower expenses. The company's first-quarter net income was $13.6 million or $0.10 per share, compared to loss of $44.2 million or $0.33 per share a year ago. Revenues for the quarter grew 21 percent to $569.7 million from $471.8 million in the same period last year.

LGF closed Thursday's trading at $35.45, down $0.83 on a volume of 2.33 million shares.