Gemstar Patent Profits

Cable World, March 12, 2001 by Mavis Scanlon

Henry Yuen has always promoted the value of his company's patents. That value was clearly evident in the company's recent earnings report and the 67% margins posted by Gemstar TV Guide's technology and licensing sector.

Overall, the company swung to a fiscal third-quarter loss due to expenses from its acquisition of TV Guide from News Corp., which closed last July. Gemstar's total net loss for the quarter ended Dec. 31 was $126.2 million, or 31 cents a share. That compares with net income of $23.1 million, or 9 cents a share, in the year-earlier quarter. The quarter included an expense of $227.5 million related to the writedown of certain intangible assets stemming from the TV Guide acquisition and a loss of $9.7 million from stock compensation.

Consolidated revenue jumped almost sixfold to $358.1 million, up from $64.1 million, while cash flow more than tripled to $112.3 million from $32.9 million.

TV Guide still accounts for about half of Gemstar's revenue.