UPDATE 3-Slot machine-maker IGT has loss but sees hopeful signs
* Adjusted EPS 19 cts/shr beats 17 cts/shr estimate
* Revenue $514.6 million vs $492.7 million estimate
* CEO projects fiscal 2010 earnings of 77-87 cts/shr
* Shares down 0.5 percent (Adds outlooks, updates stock price)
LOS ANGELES, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Slot-machine maker International Game Technology (IGT.N) posted a quarterly net loss on Thursday but saw signs its business was beginning to stabilize.
On an adjusted basis its results came in slightly ahead of Wall Street estimates and its shares moved 1.3 percent higher in after-hours trading.
"Our fiscal 2009 results reflect a challenging operating environment, which we believe stabilized during our fiscal third and fourth quarters," Chief Executive Patti Hart said in a statement.
"While we remain cautious on the timing and extent of the replacement cycle, we have been encouraged by modest upticks in spending by many of our casino operator customers over the past two quarters."
Looking ahead, Hart projected fiscal 2010 earnings of 77 cents to 87 cents a share, including 6 cents a share in non-cash interest expense. Analysts, on average, have forecast fiscal 2010 earnings of 88 cents per share.
For the its fiscal fourth quarter ending in September, the company posted a net loss of $21.3 million, or 7 cents a share, compared with net income of $52.1 million, or 18 cents a share, a year earlier.
The results included previously disclosed non-cash charges of 26 cents per share and restructuring expense of 1 cent per share.
Excluding the loss on other assets, but including the restructuring charge, the company had a profit of 19 cents a share, which exceeded the analysts' average estimate of 17 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Revenue fell 19 percent to $514.6, but beat analysts' average estimate of $492.7 million.
Shares of IGT rose to $18.80 in extended trading Thursday after closing at $18.56 in the regular session. (Reporting by Deena Beasley; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved

