UPDATE 1-Citadel Broadcasting Q4 loss widens
(Recasts; adds details)
Feb 29 (Reuters) - Radio broadcaster Citadel Broadcasting Corp CDL.N posted a wider quarterly loss, hurt by asset impairment and disposal charges, even as revenue more than doubled on an acquisition it made last year.
The company reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $848 million, or $3.24 per share, compared with a net loss of $1.1 million, or 1 cent per share, a year ago.
Net loss for the quarter included about $857 million, or $3.27 per basic share, of non-cash asset impairment and disposal charges.
Net revenue rose 115 percent to $245.5 million on contribution from ABC Radio, acquired from the Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) in June last year.
Analysts on average were expecting the company to earn 7 cents a share, excluding items, on revenue of $ 246.5 million, according to Reuters Estimates.
Shares of the company, which competes with Clear Channel Communications Inc (CCU.N), have lost 87 percent of their value since March last year, when they reached a 52-week high of $10.40.
The shares closed at $1.36 Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Purwa Naveen Raman in Bangalore; Editing by Pratish Narayanan)
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