Playboy Enterprises Inc. reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss on Thursday as revenue at its print and digital segment continued to decline.
For the second quarter, net loss narrowed to $5.4 million, or 16 cents per share, from $8.7 million, or 26 cents per share, a year ago.
The adult entertainment company, which is being wooed by both founder Hugh Hefner and rival Penthouse magazine-owner FriendFinder Networks, saw revenue fall 10 percent to $56 million.
Analysts were expecting a loss of 15 cents a share on sales of $58 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Revenue at the print and digital segment fell 45 percent to $20.9 million. The company expects this segment to return to “modest profitability in the second half of 2010.”
Licensing revenue rose 24 percent to $12.4 million during the quarter. The company has struck licensing deals with clothing makers, casinos and clubs to counter the diminishing returns of the print advertising business.
Earlier this week, the company said its board had formed a special committee to examine a bid by Hefner to take the company private.
After Hefner proposed to acquire Playboy for $5.50 a share, the owner of Penthouse magazine offered to pay $6.25 a share for the company.
Shares of Playboy dropped more than 3 percent in trading before the bell. They had closed at $5.39 Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange.
Doesn’t Playboy realize some online porn is free?