娱乐英语新闻:MGM posts bumper 4th quarter earnings with help of "Skyfall," "The Hobbit"

LOS ANGELES, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. reported a 40.2-million-U.S.-dollar fourth quarter earnings in 2012 on Monday, a remarkable feat which was buoyed up by the screening of two popular movies of "Skyfall" and "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" in the global marketplace.

The two box-office blockbusters, each garnering more than 1 billion dollars in ticket sales, helped boost MGM's revenues to 902.6 million dollars during the three months ending on Dec. 31. In 2011, the 89-year old studio posted 11.3 million dollars in loss while notching 136.7 million dollars in revenue.

"I am very pleased with our strong results for 2012, reinforcing my optimism about the future of MGM," Chairman and CEO Gary Barber said in a statement. "With back-to-back films each grossing worldwide box office in excess of 1 billion dollars, MGM now has two of the top 15 films in box-office history."

Since emerging from bankruptcy in December 2010, MGM has secured 500 million dollars in credit and is looking for more in light of its recent success.

In July 2012, it filed for a possible public offering of its stock that would allow the former debt holders who are now its owners to start selling their holdings.

For 2012, MGM almost doubled its revenue to 1.4 billion dollars while increasing its net income by 64 percent to 128 million dollars, according to the statement.