Mosaid chips in with fourth quarter loss
By Susan Taylor
OTTAWA, June 16 (Reuters) - Chip designer Mosaid Technology Inc. (Toronto:MSD.TO - news) closed the books on a difficult year on Wednesday, reporting a
fourth-quarter loss of 46 Canadian cents after a one-time charge of C$3.6 million.
The Ottawa-area firm, which designs memory chips and chip-testing gear, recorded a loss of C$3.3 million on sales of C$7.4 million in the quarter ended April 30.
The write-down related to Mosaid's purchase of Accelerix Inc., an Ottawa-area system-on-a-chip designer for the PC market. Excluding that charge, Mosaid would have reported a profit of four Canadian
cents a share, above analysts' estimates ranging from a profit of two Canadian cents per share to a loss of two Canadian cents per share.
In the fourth quarter last year, Mosaid recorded a profit of C$3,000 on revenue of C$9.6 million.
The results are marked by the third consecutive year that the memory sector slumped and a weak Asian market. Mosaid lost C$10.1 million on sales of C$22.8 million, compared to a profit of C$5.2 million
on revenue of C$41.4 the previous year.
The company is now branching out to avoid reliance on the memory market, which routinely slumps when excess supply drives down prices.
''We have made significant progress in adding more arrows to the quiver,'' said George Cwynar, Chief Executive Officer.
Mosaid is pushing into the data-communication chip market, announcing in late May a seven-year-deal to produce a system-on-a-chip for network switching with Toshiba Corp.
Efforts are also underway to evolve into a ''fabless'' semiconductor company, producing and selling chips without owning a plant.
Mosaid also hopes to strike further deals to license patents following its first such agreement with Fujitsu Ltd. in January.
But it's unlikely the road to recovery will be be a quick trip. ''You wouldn't expect that overnight they'll be back to happy days,'' said one analyst who asked not to be named.
Shares in Mosaid fell 15 Canadian cents on the Toronto Stock Exchange yesterday to end the session at C$6.55 before the results were released. The 52-week high for the share was C$9.10 whiles its low
was C$3.55.
($1=$1.46 Canadian) |
