Citadel Broadcasting posts Q3 loss, shares plunge

BANGALORE (Reuters) - Radio broadcaster Citadel Broadcasting Corp CDL.N reported a huge quarterly loss, as asset impairment and disposal charges more than outpaced revenue growth, sending its shares to an all-time low.

The company reported a third-quarter loss of $447.8 million, or $1.71 a share, compared with a net income of $18.4 million, or 16 cents a share, in the year-ago period.

Net revenue, however, more than doubled to $240.2 million from the year-ago period.

Asset impairment and disposal charges of about $463.2 million, or $1.77 a share, took a big bite out of its results for the latest quarter.

Analysts on average were expecting the company to earn 8 cents a share, excluding items, on revenue of $243.4 million, according to Reuters Estimates.

"The quarter was disappointing and this was not expected," Benchmark Co analyst Edward Atorino said by phone.

ABC Radio, which Citadel bought from the Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) in the second quarter of 2007, did not perform up to the expectations, he said. "It is clearly a setback here."

Atorino added that the company also gave a disappointing outlook by pushing its 2008 cash flow of $400 million beyond 2008.

Citadel Chief Executive Officer Farid Suleman said the company was planning to sell certain radio stations to reduce debt.

In a conference call with the analysts, he also sought more time to issue a forecast for the next year, saying it was difficult to predict where the market was headed given the current economic conditions.

Shares of the company were down 85 cents to $3 in afternoon trade and were one of the top losers on the New York Stock Exchange. They had hit a life low of $2.79 earlier in the day.

(Reporting by Bijoy Koyitty in Bangalore, Editing by Anil D'Silva)