US video rental chain Blockbuster has reported a loss of $57m for its most recent quarter compared with a profit of $48m a year ago.

The results are seen as an indication of the rapid changes affecting the video rental market, most notably the shift to online rental.

Losses were also attributed to the company stopping charging for overdue rentals in the US in January, and spending 26 per cent more on promoting its online service.

Blockbuster has also announced that it is to increase its monthly online fee from $14.99 to $17.99 in line with competitor Netflix.

The company has one million online subscribers which it predicts will rise to three million by April 2006. Netflix has 3.1 million subscribers.

The rental sector is also being buffeted by a lacklustre 12 months for the movie business which is expecting its worst ever year for attendances.