Blockbuster profit soars on cost cuts

Blockbuster Inc. said Thursday that its fiscal fourth-quarter profit more than quadrupled as it cut costs and adjusted prices for its online movie subscription service.

The Dallas-based movie rental company also said it would restate financial results over the last three years for minor adjustments in the few millions.

Blockbuster earned $38.1 million, or 18 cents a share, for the quarter that ended Jan. 6, up from $8.3 million, or 4 cents, a year earlier. Revenue rose 3.6% to $1.6 billion. Sales at stores open at least a year, a key figure in retailing, rose 2.9%.

The company said it expected to return to profitability this year by earning $5 million to $25 million.

Its shares fell 31 cents, or 10.2%, to $2.73.

“There has been a lot of skepticism about the store format, but we believe they are underutilized,” said Chief Executive James Keyes. He said Blockbuster could boost in-store rentals further by keeping new releases on the shelves.

In other earnings news:

* Shares of Longs Drug Stores Corp., the owner of the namesake chain on the West Coast, had their biggest decline in five years in New York trading after the company forecast full-year profit that trailed analysts’ average estimate.

The stock fell $6.81, or 14%, to $41. Longs, based in Walnut Creek, Calif., has lost 13% of its stock value this year.

The company, after markets closed Wednesday, forecast income from continuing operations of $3.02 to $3.12 a share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts on average estimated $3.14 in a Bloomberg survey.

* Action sports apparel maker Quiksilver Inc. posted a fiscal first-quarter net loss, as delayed reorders of winter sports merchandise and weak consumer spending hurt results.

The loss was $21.9 million, or 18 cents a share, compared with a profit of $2.5 million, or 2 cents, a year earlier. Sales rose 14% to $605.3 million.

In January, Quiksilver widened its projected loss because of weak sales.

The Huntington Beach company said it still would reduce or eliminate its exposure to the winter sports business.

That includes unloading its Rossingnol ski equipment business, which has dragged down the company’s results.

Quiksilver shares closed at $8.06, down 93 cents, before the earnings news.

* Shares of Fleetwood Enterprises Inc., based in Riverside, tumbled 14% after the largest maker of full-size motor homes posted its seventh straight quarterly loss and forecast a “sluggish spring” because of slowing consumer spending.

The stock fell 66 cents to $4.11 and has plunged 52% in the last year.

Fleetwood’s loss for the fiscal third quarter that ended Jan. 27 narrowed to $16.4 million, or 25 cents a share, from $29.9 million, or 47 cents, a year earlier. Revenue dropped 20% to $355.5 million.