Cinram Q1 loss widens on DVD decline

PHYSICAL: Replicator's disc production cut by 18%

By Danny King -- Video Business, 5/5/2009

MAY 5 | PHYSICAL: Cinram International Income Fund's first-quarter loss broadened as the disc replicator made 18% fewer DVDs than a year earlier, reflecting the continued decline in North American home entertainment spending.

Cinram made about 216 million DVDs during the quarter, down from 262 million a year earlier. Revenue from Blu-ray discs was little changed at $4.4 million, the company said.

The replicator’s net loss grew to $22.3 million, or 40¢ a share, from $3.39 million, or 6¢, a year earlier, as sales dropped 19% to $303.2 million, Toronto-based Cinram said in a statement yesterday. Sales from the production of standard- and high-definition video discs plunged 21% to $220.6 million as both units and prices fell.

Cinram’s financial results were hurt by a decline in DVD sales that continued from last year into the early part of the year. The recession and second-quarter Easter holiday caused first-quarter U.S. spending on DVD rentals and purchases to fall 7.4% from a year earlier to about $4.8 billion, according to Video Business research and Rentrak.