Rovi Loss Widens, To Sell Some Businesses; Cuts Outlook - Update

(RTTNews) - Digital technology company Rovi Corp. (ROVI), Wednesday reported a loss for the second quarter that widened from a year ago, hurt by impairment charges and lower revenues amid softness in its consumer electronics verticals. Excluding items, the company posted a profit in line with Wall Street estimates.

The company said it has made separate agreements to sell its Entertainment Store and Consumer Website businesses as part of plans to focus on core operations. Both deals are expected to close in the third quarter.

Rovi also slashed its outlook for fiscal year 2013, partly to reflect the divestiture of its businesses as well as uncertainties in closing new agreements with customers.

Santa Clara, California-based Rovi provides digital entertainment technology solutions. The company has had suffered from analog content protection revenue, delays in adding new patent licensees, and failure to launch new products in time.

The company posted a second quarter net loss of $74 million or $0.75 per share, compared with a net loss of $18.5 million or $0.17 per share last year.

Results for the quarter include a loss of $77 million from discontinued operations - mainly impairment charges at its Entertainment Store and Consumer Website businesses.

Excluding items, earnings for the quarter were $46 million or $0.46 per share, compared with earnings of $48 million or $0.45 per share a year ago. Earnings-per-share results for the recent quarter reflect a lower share count.

On average, 12 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimated earnings of $0.46 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Revenues for the second quarter declined to $146 million from $154.6 million in the prior year.

Twelve analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $152.85 million for the quarter.

For fiscal year 2013, the company now expects revenue of $600 million to $630 million and adjusted earnings of $1.80 to $2.10 per share. Rovi had earlier projected revenues of $630 million to $660 million and adjusted earnings of $1.95 to $2.25 per share.

Analysts currently expect earnings of $2.09 per share on revenues of $645.37 million for 2013.

The company's stock closed Wednesday at $22.53, up $0.02 or 0.09%, on a volume of 1.6 million shares on the Nasdaq. In after hours, the stock dropped $1.00 or 4.44%.