MGM studio 3Q revenue up on TV sales

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LOS ANGELES (AP) - MGM Holdings Inc., parent of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the movie studio that is bankrolling half of the production of "The Hobbit" movies, benefited from a bump in TV licensing revenue during its third quarter.

The privately held company, which emerged from bankruptcy protection in December 2010, did not shed new light in a conference call with investors Thursday on the potential for going public, according to spokeswoman Susie Arons. The company had filed confidential securities documents in July 2012 ahead of a possible initial public offering of stock.

Net income in the three months through Sept. 30 fell 29 percent, to $16.6 million from $23.4 million a year ago. However, last year's results were boosted by a one-time $48.5 million gain from the sale of some MGM international TV channels.

An adjusted profit measure that excludes interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization more than doubled to $64.4 million.

Sales grew 43 percent to $242.9 million, mainly because of higher TV licensing revenue and home entertainment revenue from "Skyfall" and "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" as well as from licensing the TV series "Vikings" and "Teen Wolf."

The second movie in the "Hobbit" trilogy, "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug," is being released in mid-December. "An Unexpected Journey" grossed more than $1 billion worldwide.