PlanetOut Guides Lower

PlanetOut (LGBT) posted a third-quarter loss and guided below the Wall Street consensus for the fourth quarter.

The San Francisco-based gay media company lost $1.5 million, or 9 cents a share, for the quarter ended Sept. 30, reversing the year-ago profit of $800,000, or 4 cents a share. Revenue doubled from year-earlier levels to $15.4 million.

On an adjusted basis, the latest-quarter loss was 7 cents a share.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial were looking for a 7-cent loss on sales of $15.7 million.

"Our long-term strategy remains unchanged, in spite of some setbacks during the quarter," CEO Karen Magee said in a post-close press release.

The company's decline in online subscribers was less than the previous quarter, and to reverse this online trend even further, the company recently launched its upgraded online photo management system; a redesigned gay.com home page; and improved locations handling for gay.com members and subscribers, PlanetOut said.

"European riverboat vacations were quickly and successfully transitioned to land-based vacations after the unexpected inability of one of the company's European business partners to fulfill its commitments to PlanetOut," the company added. The company had warned in September that costs related to itinerary changes for two of its four riverboat trips in August and September would hit third-quarter results.

The company guided to a fourth-quarter adjusted loss of around $1.2 million on revenue of around $18 million. Analysts were looking for a 2-cent-a-share loss on revenue of $19 million.

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