AETH ($16 -$13)loss widens, beats estimates
(UPDATE: Adds more details)
OWINGS MILLS, Md., May 8 (Reuters) - Wireless data products and services provider Aether Systems Inc. (NasdaqNM:AETH - news) on Tuesday reported a five-fold increase in first-quarter losses, but this beat analysts' expectations as revenues surged by an even greater percentage.
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The company reported a first-quarter operating loss of $46.8 million, or $1.16 a share, compared with a loss of $8.6 million, or 29 cents a year ago, excluding special items.
Analysts on average had expected Aether to report a loss of $1.25, with estimates ranging from a loss of 78 cents to $1.37, according to Thomson Financial/First Call.
Aether said special items included non-cash impairment charges of $959.4 million to write down goodwill associated with acquisitions in fiscal 2000.
An $88.8 million non-cash charge was taken to write down other company investments.
``By absorbing a series of significant one-time charges related to acquisitions and investments made in 2000, we are able to move forward with a clean slate,'' Aether Chairman and Chief Executive Dave Oros said in a news release.
Revenues rose to $30.7 million from $5.4 million a year ago, helped by strong growth in subscriber revenue and software products revenue. Aether said in April it expected revenues of $30 million for the first-quarter.
Subscriber revenue rose to $10.4 million from $2.8 million a year ago, engineering services revenue rose to $2.4 million from $1.4 million and software product revenue grew to $11.8 million from $1.1 million.
Device sales, a new category for Aether, rose to $6.1 million from $100,000 a year ago.
``With revenues at an all-time high and more and more companies in diverse industries turning to Aether for wireless solutions, we remain extremely upbeat about our position in the marketplace,'' Oros said.
Aether warned last month that it was on track to meet financial targets for the first half of the year, but growth in the second half would be disappointing due to the slowing economy.
Oros said in the news release that Aether is continuing to focus on integration, controlled spending and efficient operations in order to be cash flow positive by the third quarter of next year.
Shares of Aether closed down $1.03, or 5.73 percent at $16.95 on Nasdaq prior to the earnings release. The stock has underperformed the Standard & Poor's 500 index by 86 percent over the past year. |
