Coinstar 3rd-quarter profit rises sharply

Coinstar posts 3rd-quarter profit on growing demand for products, sale of business unit

• On 7:20 pm EST, Thursday November 5, 2009

BELLEVUE, Wash. (AP) -- Coinstar Inc., which makes coin-counting machines, said Thursday its third-quarter profit rose sharply as revenue surged on growing demand for its products and on the sale of its entertainment services business.

For the three months ended Sept. 30, the company earned $41.4 million, or $1.34 per share during the July-September period, up from $4.5 million, or 16 cents per share in the prior-year period.

The results included one-time tax benefit of $82.2 million on the sale of its entertainment services business, netting to $32.4 million, or $1.05 per share.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected, on average, earnings per share of 25 cents. Such expectations typically exclude one-time items.

Revenue rose 46 percent to nearly $296 million from $203.5 million from a year earlier, below the $331.9 million analysts were predicting.

"In the third quarter, our core DVD rental and coin-counting businesses continued to produce solid results at both the top and bottom line," said Paul Davis, Coinstar CEO, in a statement.

Looking ahead, Coinstar expects to earn for the full year between 98 cents to $1.04 per share with revenue between $1.12 billion and $1.17 billion. Analysts are looking for a profit of 85 cents per share with revenue of $1.27 billion.

Shares of Coinstar fell $1.36, or 4.3 percent, to $32.20 in after-hours trading, after adding 57 cents to $31.87.

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