BELLEVUE, Wash. – Coinstar last week said costs to remake the front entrance at 1,500 Wal-Mart stores with its Redbox DVD rentals and coin-counting machines caused it to report a fourth quarter loss of $37.2 million, or $1.43 a share. That compares to a profit of $5 million, or 18 cents a share, for the same quarter last year.
Coinstar took a $65.2 million pre-tax charge in the quarter for the project, which will entail the removal of the cranes, bulk heads and kiddie rides in those Wal-Mart stores over the next two quarters.
Revenue also fell 3% in the fourth quarter to $133.3 million, but rose 2% for the full year to $546.3 million.
For the full year, Coinstar reported a loss of $22.3 million, or 80 cents a share, compared to a profit of $18.6 million, or 66 cents a share, for 2006.
