Coinstar Inc. says goodbye to one of its executive leaders as it releases its second quarter results for fiscal 2011.
Coinstar Inc., a provider in automated retail, has announced a leadership transition for the company’s redbox business, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Coinstar.
Mitch Lowe has resigned as president of redbox to pursue entrepreneurial and other interests, and will continue to serve as president until a successor is named. Coinstar has commenced an external search to identify a new president of redbox.
“On behalf of Coinstar and the redbox organization, I want to thank Mitch for his many contributions over the last eight years, particularly in establishing redbox as a leader in the home entertainment business,” said Paul Davis, CEO of Coinstar.”A true entrepreneur, we wish him the best as he pursues other passions. I am also excited for the future of the redbox business, and as such, we will be seeking a new leader to help us realize the next chapter in the redbox growth story.”
“I feel very fortunate to have been part of the extraordinary redbox team that transformed the DVD rental business, and I look forward to working closely with the company to ensure a smooth transition in the days ahead,” said Lowe. He added that when he joined redbox in 2003, there were only a small number of kiosks installed. Yet today redbox has more than 31,800 kiosks across the U.S., and has rented more than 1.5 billion DVDs.
“As the (redbox) market continues to evolve, I look forward to watching redbox innovate and grow with it,” Lowe said.
Financial Report
Coinstar also has announced preliminary results for its second quarter, which ended June 30. The company expects to report revenue between $434 million and $436 million, adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations between $97 million and $100 million, and GAAP earnings per share (EPS) from continuing operations on a fully diluted basis between $0.96 and $1.00.
The company also updated its guidance for the full year 2011 and now expects:
• Consolidated revenue between $1.760 billion and $1.850 billion
• Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations between $345 million and $360 million
• GAAP EPS from continuing operations on a fully diluted basis between $2.90 and $3.15
• Free cash flow from continuing operations between $115 million and $135 million
The updated guidance for the full year includes the company’s estimated results for the first half of fiscal 2011 and reflects the company’s current understanding of the studios’ new release schedules and timing of releases being available for redbox kiosks, as well as the planned deployment of Safeway Coin kiosks the company announced in June.
Given the release schedule for the second half of 2011 and rollout of video game rentals, the company now expects fourth quarter 2011 revenue to be greater than any of the previous three quarters. GAAP EPS from continuing operations on a fully diluted basis is now expected to be higher in the third quarter than in the fourth quarter of 2011, due to a greater percentage of new titles in the fourth quarter being released by studios that generate lower margins for the company.
The results provided in this press release are preliminary and subject to completion and review of the 2011 second quarter financial statements by the company, the audit committee and the company’s independent auditors.
As previously announced, Coinstar plans to report final results for the 2011 second quarter on July 28 after the market close and management will host a conference call at 2 p.m. PDT to review the results.
Coinstar Inc. supports approximately 31,800 DVD kiosks and 18,800 coin-counting kiosks in supermarkets, drug stores, mass merchants, financial institutions, c-stores and restaurants.