Warner Music Group reported a $17 million quarterly net loss this morning, though revenues and digital formats showed resilience.  The loss, for the quarter ending December 31st, follows a year-ago gain of $23 million. 

Revenues landed at $918 million, down 2 percent on a constant currency basis.  Digital formats gained 5 percent (also constant currency) to $184 million, and now account for 20 percent of broader revenues.  Constant currencies are used to account for various fluctuations between international currencies, a factor beyond the immediate control of management.

That results are a bit disappointing given the holiday period, though the street was expecting worse.  Looking forward, top Warner Music executives pointed to an ongoing transition.  “As our stable margins show, we carefully manage our costs and regularly work to adjust our business in order to minimize the impact of a transitioning recorded music market,” said Warner Music Group executive vice president and CFO Steve Macri. “Similar to last year, we expect our release schedule in fiscal year 2010 to be back-end weighted.”

WMG is formally announcing its results at 8:30 am EST.  Other highlights from the earnings report:

*Revenue from recordings increased 3.4 percent from the prior-year quarter to $783 million, and fell 2.2 percent on a constant-currency basis.

*Music publishing revenue increased 4.4 percent from the prior-year quarter to $141 million, and was flat on a constant-currency basis.

*As of December 31st, 2009, WMG carried a cash balance of $339 million, total long-term debt of $1.94 billion and net debt (total long-term debt minus cash) of $1.61 billion. That compares to net debt of $1.56 billion on September 30th, 2009.

*Operating income before depreciation and amortization (OIBDA) was up 5 percent to $112 million from $107 million in the prior-year quarter.