(RTTNews) - Dolby Laboratories Inc. (DLB: News ), Tuesday reported a lower profit for the fourth quarter, reflecting a rise in expenses as well as a lower other income. However, earnings and revenues came in above analysts expectations. Looking ahead, the company provided its guidance for fiscal year 2010. In a separate release, the company said its board has approved stock repurchase of $250 million.

The San Francisco, California-based company's net income declined to $44.30 million or $0.38 per share from $48.56 million or $0.42 per share for the same period last year.

Dolby Labs' total revenue for the fourth quarter was $163.88 million, up modestly from $163.13 million for the year-ago quarter.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.33 per share on revenue of $156.63 million for the fourth quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.

Net income for the quarter was impacted by a rise in total operating expenses of $81.35 million, compared to $79.90 million a year earlier, even as other income declined to $1.96 million from $4.75 million last year.

Commenting on the full year performance, Kevin Yeaman, President and Chief Executive Officer said, "In fiscal 2009, we made excellent progress with new wins in many of our markets, including broadcast, mobile, and personal computer, and we remain focused on growing the adoption of our surround sound solutions globally while bringing new technologies to market."
In a separate statement, the company said its board approved a stock repurchase program authorizing the company to repurchase up to $250 million of its class A common Stock. The company said the stock repurchase program is to offset equity dilution from the company's equity compensation programs.

In the sequentially preceding third quarter, Dolby's net income rose year-over-year to 51.1 million or $0.44 per share from $46.4 million or $0.40 per share a year ago. Total revenues were $171.2 million, up 11% from $154.3 million in the comparable quarter last year.

For the quarter under review, licensing revenue rose modestly to $138.62 million from $137.76 million in the same period a year-ago. Product sales revenues grew to $20.22 million from $18.59 million in the same period last year. However, the company smallest segment, services revenues slipped to $5.03 million from $6.79 million for the year earlier period.

For the fiscal year, the company's net income rose to $242.99 million or $2.11 per share from $199.46 million or $1.74 per share last year and revenues increased to $719.50 million from $640.23 million a year-ago.

To receive FREE breaking news email alerts for Dolby Laboratories and others in your portfolio

 1   2   Next Page