NEW YORK (AP) —RealNetworks posted a fourth-quarter loss Thursday, hurt by impairment and restructuring charges, as revenue inched lower.
The company, known for its Rhapsody online music service and the RealPlayer media player, posted a loss of $240.5 million, or $1.78 per share, down from net income of $2.7 million, or 2 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.
The latest quarter's results included impairment charges of $240.7 million.
Revenue slipped 3 percent to $152.6 million from $156.9 million.
Analysts, on average, were expecting sales of $153.8 million, according to a poll by Thomson Reuters.
Chief Executive Rob Glaser said the quarter's revenue, while "not extraordinary" relative to what RealNetworks thought at the start of last year, was nonetheless in line with fourth-quarter expectations.
The Seattle-based company did not provide quantitative guidance for the current quarter, saying it expects 2009 to be "a challenging year" for consumer and corporate technology spending and online advertising. RealNetworks did say it expects revenue to decline for the current quarter, both sequentially and year-over-year.
Analysts are expecting sales of $151 million, a decline of 1 percent from the fourth quarter.
Glaser said in an interview he considers the company's core business, including recurring revenue from consumers, to be "quite resilient." It is the remaining 20 percent of its business, which includes online advertising, where things are less certain.
He added that the last time the company didn't give guidance was during the previous recession earlier this decade. RealNetworks, he said, "came roaring out" of that downturn, and expects to do so this time around too.
Revenue at the company's games division grew 9 percent to $33.7 million and music revenue jumped 8 percent to $43.9 million. At the company's media software and services unit, sales declined 11 percent to $22.7 million.
For the full year, RealNetworks posted a loss of $243.9 million, or $1.74 per share, down from a profit of $48.3 million, or 29 cents per share, in 2007.
Revenue climbed 7 percent to $604.8 million from $567.6 million.