UPDATE 1-Coinstar Q2 beats Street, sees strong FY profit

* Q2 EPS $0.23 vs est $0.17

* Q2 revenue $314.0 mln vs est $305.1 mln

* Sees FY 2009 EPS $0.80-$0.86 * Shares rise 4 pct after the bell

Aug 4 (Reuters) - Coinstar Inc (CSTR.O), which makes and operates coin-counting machines, posted quarterly results that beat market expectations, driven by growth in its core businesses, and forecast 2009 profit above estimates. Coinstar, which also provides DVD rental kiosks through its unit Redbox Automated Retail LLC, said it expects to earn 80 cents to 86 cents a share.

Analysts on average expect the company to earn 74 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.

Coinstar forecast revenue of $1.225 billion to $1.300 billion for 2009.

The company said it would explore strategic alternatives for its e-payment and money transfer businesses to better focus on its DVD and coin businesses.

Coinstar's Redbox unit -- which competes with companies like NCR Corp (NCR.N) -- is the market leader in the DVD rental kiosk space with over 15,000 locations, according to its website.

For the second quarter, the company earned $7.0 million, or 23 cents a share, compared with $2.7 million, or 9 cents a share, a year ago.

Revenue rose 43 percent to $314.0 million.

Analysts were expecting earnings of 17 cents a share, before items, on revenue of $305.1 million, according to Reuters Estimates.

Coinstar shares, which have gained over 47 percent over the last six months, were up $1.36 at $35.91 in trading after the bell. They closed at $34.55 Tuesday on Nasdaq.

For the alerts, double-click here. [ID:nWNBB8863] (Reporting by Deepti Govind in Bangalore; Editing by Anne Pallivathuckal)