Lions Gate Entertainment, Inc. -- Moody's says that Lions Gate Entertainment's (Ba3 CFR) new dividend and increased share repurchase program will not affect its credit ratings

New York, December 20, 2013 -- Moody's Investors Service said that Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.'s ("LGEC" - Ba3 CFR) announced plan to institute a new dividend payout program ($0.05 per share) and increase its share repurchase authorization will not impact the company's credit ratings. The announced new dividend initiation is expected to have only a modest impact on free cash flow, as the annual payout will be under $30 million. Further, we do not expect the increase in the company's stock repurchase plan (to $300 million) to impact LGEC's credit worthiness, as we believe that the company will be very prudent in repurchasing shares until after the 2014 film slate performance can be assessed. "Catching Fire" continues to perform very well at the box office and should produce strong cash flow. The resulting strong cash flows are expected to provide improved liquidity and financial flexibility to reduce debt such that the company appears well positioned to repay the balance outstanding under its credit facility within the next year to eighteen months. The company has medium to long-term fixed debt of $555 million (face value) which includes high yield notes, Term Loan B and convertible notes. Total funded debt at 9/30/2013 was $881.5 million and debt-to-EBITDA leverage (incorporating Moody's standard adjustments) was 2.3x. Revenues for the LTM period ended 9/30/2013 were $2.6 billion.

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