TiVo loss widens
August 31, 2007
TiVo said its second-quarter loss widened on a write down of inventory, but the company reiterated its goal of breaking even on an adjusted basis for fiscal 2008. The write downs cam as retailers switched more quickly than expected to the HD version.
The company posted a net loss of $17.7 million (E12.9m) for the quarter ended July 31st, compared with a loss of $6.5 million, in the prior year. The figure in the latest quarter includes an inventory write-down and purchase commitment charge of $11.2m, which the company said it hadn’t anticipated. Revenue for the three months ended July 31 rose to $62.66m from $59.3m.
TiVo still expects to break even on an adjusted earnings basis, before interest, depreciation and amortization, for fiscal 2008.
TiVo-owned subscription gross additions came to 41,000, compared with 74,000 a year ago. Additions were adversely impacted by the pace at which retailers moved to sell high-definition DVRs. The company picked up 136,000 subscribers in the quarter.
Earlier this month, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that oral arguments in EchoStar’s appeal of a patent infringement ruling in favour of TiVo could begin October 4th. TiVo filed suit against EchoStar Communications Corp. in January 2004, alleging that EchoStar violated its “time warp patent,” which enables the TiVo DVR to record one programme while playing back another.