The mini-major being hotly pursued by shareholder activist/corporate raider Carl Icahn and others who own hefty shares of the studio said late today that its fiscal 2009 loss widened to $163 million, or $1.40 a share, from $74 million, or 62 cents a share, a year ago. Lionsgate did not break out its 4th-quarter loss, but claimed revenues in that quarter ending March 31st were its 2nd highest ever reported. Annual revenue rose to $1.47 billion this fiscal year compared with $1.36 billion last year. Wall Street expected $1.46 billion. The studio blamed its widened loss for the fiscal year on the poor box office performance of its films during the 2nd and 3rd quarters, slumping DVD sales, as well as a $36 million charge taken on its DVD distribution of HIT Entertainment’s family entertainment titles.

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