Live Entertainment Reports $728,000 1st-Quarter Loss

Live Entertainment Inc., a Van Nuys distributor and retailer of videocassettes, said its first-quarter loss narrowed to $728,000 from a $1.4-million loss a year earlier.

The company said its smaller loss for the quarter that ended March 31 was primarily due to lower interest expense after its recent financial restructuring. The restructuring was completed in March.

Live’s sales for the first three months of this year fell 15%, to $57.4 million from $67.6 million. David Mount, Live’s chief executive, blamed the decline on fewer new video-rental releases during the quarter compared with the year-earlier period.

Mount said Live’s earnings for the rest of this year are likely to be “negatively impacted” by its financial problems in 1992. But the company’s profits should begin to improve in 1994 as a result of video releases that it acquires this year, he said.

Live recently gained the distribution rights to a package of Miramax films, including the Academy Award-winning movie “The Crying Game.”