For Imax, the hits just keep on coming, and not the good Hollywood box-office kind.

Within days of the sudden resignation of CFO Frank Joyce on Aug. 21, the large-format king was struck by a series of shareholder lawsuits and saw its stock lose more than half its value on New York’s Nasdaq exchange – sliding from a high of US$10 to a new 52-week low of US$4.60 by Aug. 29.

This follows news that the company had failed to find a buyer for its 226-screen operation despite an intensive five-month search, and that it was under ‘informal investigation’ by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over possible accounting irregularities.

Four class-action lawsuits, filed in the U.S., and the SEC investigation are looking at the Mississauga, ON-based company’s efforts to attract a buyer. The statement of claims from U.S. law firm Chimicles & Tikellis alleges Imax made ‘false and misleading statements’ designed to pump up the company’s bottom line.

Imax recently reported $3.5 million in net earnings for the three months ended June 30, up from $1.1 million for the same period last year.

Imax has kept a low profile through these developments, refusing media comment beyond the press release that announced Joyce’s departure – which it says had been in the works for several months – to an unnamed public company. Edward McNeil, Imax’s VP of finance, has been named interim CFO.

The SEC, meanwhile, is looking into Imax’s use of ‘multiple element arrangement accounting,’ by which revenues from different operations are recognized at different times. One lawsuit also alleges that Imax reported revenues from screens that were not yet opened.

www.imax.com