UPDATE 3-THQ posts wider-than-expected loss, shares dive

(Adds details on restructuring, job cuts, byline)

By Nichola Groom

LOS ANGELES, May 6 (Reuters) - Video game publisher THQ Inc (THQI.O) posted a wider-than-expected fourth-quarter net loss on Tuesday because of slow sales of kids titles, sending its shares down 8.6 percent in extended trade.

THQ, the publisher of the "Cars" and "WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2008" games, posted a net loss of $34.5 million, or 52 cents per share, compared with a profit of $6.5 million, or 9 cents per share, a year earlier.

Revenue rose 8.7 percent to $187 million.

In February, the company forecast a net loss of 13 cents a share on revenue of about $200 million.

"Our products just weren't as competitive as they needed to be," Chief Executive Brian Ferrell said in an interview. "While I'd love to blame it on industry conditions, it really was our performance. We're committed to executing at a much higher level."

Although video game sales boomed last year, THQ and other smaller publishers struggled with rising development costs and limited slates of titles that make their bottom lines more vulnerable to underperforming products.