After significantly lowering its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings estimates last month, handheld device maker Palm Inc. yesterday reported fourth-quarter figures that were a bit better than it expected.
In an announcement, Santa Clara, Calif.-based Palm reported revenues of US$233 million for the fourth quarter ended May 31, after announcing on May 30 expectations of about $230 million in revenues. The company had earlier set a revenue target of $290 million to $300 million for the quarter but lowered it due to slower than expected sales and other factors.
The fourth-quarter revenues are 41 percent higher than the $165 million in revenue reported in the same quarter a year ago.
Under U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ( GAAP), Palm posted a net loss of $27 million for the fourth quarter, or five cents per share, compared with a net loss of $392 million, or 69 cents per share, one year ago. The company’s pro forma operating loss was $16 million for the quarter, after a reduction in special excess inventory costs, amortization of intangible assets, costs associated with separating into two companies and a restructuring charge. The company’s pro forma net loss was $18 million, or three cents per share, for the quarter, compared with a pro forma net loss of $89 million, or 16 cents per share, one year ago.
“Palm executed quite well in a down market,” said Eric Benhamou, Palm chairman and CEO, in a statement. “Over the quarter, our pro forma gross margins grew to nearly 35 percent, we generated positive cash flow from operations and channel inventory remained within our desired range,”
For the entire 2002 fiscal year, Palm reported revenue of $1.03 billion, down 34 percent from the $1.56 billion reported for fiscal 2001.
The company’s GAAP net loss for the full fiscal year was $82 million, or 14 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $356 million, or 63 cents per share, in fiscal 2001. The company’s pro forma net loss for fiscal 2002 was $107 million, or 19 cents per share, compared with a pro forma net loss of $29 million, or 5 cents per share, in fiscal 2001.
Palm shipped about 900,000 handheld devices in the last quarter, bringing the total shipped in 2002 to more than 4.4 million, according to the company.
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