DTS to sell movie side and concentrate on licensing: company expects to sell its digital cinema business this year.

DTS Inc., which with Dolby Labs has dominated the movie sound system landscape for the past decade, is putting its cinema business on the block.

The Agoura Hills-based company will focus exclusively on licensing its branded entertainment sound technology to the large and evolving audio, videogame, portable media and broadcast markets.

DTS said it has already begun shopping its DTS Digital Cinema and expects a sale this year. One of the company's initial investors was film director Steven Spielberg, who in 1990 felt that theatrical sound formats were no longer state of the art. He debuted the format in his 1993 film "Jurassic Park."

Also last week, DTS reported a fourth-quarter loss of $5 million (-28 cents per share), a huge departure from its profit of $1.3 million (7 cents per share) for the same period a year earlier. Revenue was also down to $17.5 million, from $17.9 the year before.

For the year, DTS reported a 62 percent dip in net income to $3 million (16 cents per share) but a 3 percent gain in revenue to $78.3 million. Included in the filings was a $3.8 million (20 cents) charge for restructuring costs.

Shares in DTS climbed 18 cents to $23.97 but quickly lost 1.5 percent (47 cents) to $23.60 on the day the company released its earnings report.