Fast-growing indie movie distributor Entertainment One hinted at further acquisitions and output deals Tuesday as it posted a modest loss for its first year of operation.

E1 CEO Darren Throop tells Playback Daily he is bullish about growth prospects for the global filmed entertainment industry, and would unveil in the coming months additional takeover deals and content deals beyond recent transactions that included Seville Entertainment.

‘We have some interesting opportunities before us. You’ll see news from us soon,’ Throop said from London, where E1 trades on the AIM market.

The Toronto-based distributor on Wednesday released its maiden results for the period from Jan. 11, 2007, when E1 was incorporated, to March 31, 2008, which includes a pro forma loss of $17 million on pro forma revenues of $571 million.

The loss was largely due to one-time items that included restructuring costs, $11.4 million in share-option payments related to the AIM listing and $21.8 million to amortize intangible assets.

From a territory standpoint, E1 is eyeing new acquisitions in Canada, Benelux, Britain and the U.S., where it is already active, plus possible forays into the German, French, Australian and Scandinavian markets.

‘We see a real opportunity for someone to consolidate the independents, which hasn’t been done since the days of Polygram,’ Throop says of E1’s filmed entertainment ambitions.

E1 last year spent $166 million on three acquisitions, including $5 million for Montreal-based Seville, with the rest going towards acquiring Britain’s Contender Entertainment Group and Benelux distributor RCV Entertainment.

The Canadian distributor also signed output deals with Summit Entertainment and Yari Film in a bid to outpace rival indie player Alliance Films.

Those plum deals proved costly in terms of upfront P&A costs. Seville released the Summit titles P2 and Penelope, and has in the pipeline two Yari Film releases, the Morgan Freeman-starrer The Lonely Maiden and Assassination of a High School President, which stars Mischa Barton.

In filings that accompanied the financial results, E1 reported that Seville contributed $8.7 million of revenues and an operating loss of $2.3 million to the parent group’s maiden results.

In all, E1 expects to spend $81 million on content rights in fiscal 2009, up from a pro forma $50.5 million in 2008, with a focus on all-rights film acquisitions.

Throop says E1 would exploit the film rights across a range of platforms, including theatrical, DVD, broadcast and online delivery.

That expenditure will mean higher year-on-year marketing costs for E1 to drive revenue growth in future periods, the company said.

The E1 chief also brushed aside talk of challenges currently facing the independent film market, with release costs sky-rocketing, equity and hedge fund film investment drying up and players like Picturehouse and Warner Independent closing down.

Throop says the international marketplace will continue to grow, and E1 will exploit that growth.

‘We look forward to another year of growth with confidence as we maintain the pace of our acquisition and consolidation strategy,’ he says.