Private Sees Brighter Outlook Despite Net Loss

BARCELONA — Private Media Group, which swung to a loss in its second quarter, reports it plans on increasing the number of new titles released in its fourth quarter and saw a steep hike in memberships with its relaunched Private.com membership platform.

The quarterly report comes on the eve of an election that will choose the company's board of directors.

Private reported Monday that it had a net loss of $1.59 million in the past three months ending June 30. In the same period last year, Private had net income of $1.34 million.

The Barcelona-based company said that during the past six months it released fewer new DVD titles compared to the same period 2010 and that it had an impact on both DVD and broadcasting sales. Private content is broadcasted via 194 platforms in 42 countries.

The year-old Private.com membership platform attracted 8.1 million absolute unique visitors in the past six months, Private says, representing an increase of 70 percent compared to for the old site during the same period in 2010.

Private's new platform features a number of proprietary sites and also is available as a white label version.

Another bright outlook for Private is its European IPTV market, where the company saw a gain of 25 percent to 20.7 million subscribers, allowing for75 percent market coverage.

"France remains the 'world champion' IPTV country with 10.3 million subscribers and we cover 100 percent of this market," a Private filing said.

Private also reported that mobile content delivery also shines bright, saying that the company expects "to generate substantial growth from our mobile VOD initiatives going forward.

Private shareholders plan on voting for directors of the company this week. A Nevada judge ordered a new shareholders vote after an earlier one had been invalidated by the court.

She earlier ruled that 3.95 million shares were "concealed" by CEO Berth Milton, who had been required to provide them to Consipio Holding BV after Private defaulted on its debt to Consipio.

The order is a result of litigation between former CEO Ilan Bunimovitz and Private.