Unisys, C&T, Quantum report
Currency fluctuations and pricing pressure take a toll on the earnings results of Unisys, Chips & Technologies, and Quantum.
Unisys (UIS) posted a 5 percent rise in fourth-quarter revenues, and posted a net loss of $965.7 million, compared with net profits of $43.6 million a year ago. Excluding a $1.1 billion charge in the quarter, the company would have posted net profits of $86.9 million, or 25 cents a share.
Wall Street had expected Unisys to report profits of 27 cents, according to First Call's consensus of analysts' estimates. Analysts note, however, that Unisys' performance was in line with expectations if a share-count change not reflected in First Call's estimates are taken into account.
The company's revenues reached $1.9 billion for the quarter, up from $1.81 billion a year ago. Unisys said foreign currency fluctuations, primarily in Europe, hurt its revenues.
Year-end results included revenues of $6.64 billion, an increase from $6.37 billion reported for the previous year. Unisys also posted a loss of $853.6 million, compared with net profits of $49.7 million a year earlier. Without the charges, Unisys would have posted net profits of $199 million for 1997.
The company cited strong sales of its ClearPath enterprise servers, as well as the fact that its Information Services Group turned an operating profit, as factors that helped it improve financial performance. Unisys said it is entering the new year focused on two markets, services and enterprise servers.
Chips and Technologies (CHPS) faced a drop in revenues and profits as it prepares to merge with Intel.
The company posted revenues of $34.8 million, compared with $48.2 million reported a year ago. Its net profits for the quarter fell to $2.8 million, or 12 cents a share, compared with $9.8 million, or 42 cents a share, a year ago.
C&T's profits were slightly better than analysts expectations of 11 cents a share, according to First Call.
Quantum (QNTM), a storage maker that also has been hit with the industry's excess capacity, posted a loss for the third quarter and a slight revenue increase.
The company posted a net loss of $32.2 million, or 24 cents a share, for the quarter ending December 28, 1997, compared with profits of $52.4 million, or 36 cents a share, a year ago. Excluding special charges, the company posted profits of $47 million, or 29 cents a share.
Analysts had expected the company to post earnings of 28 cents, according to First Call.
Quantum's revenues for the quarter reached $1.52 billion, up from $1.48 billion reported for the year-ago period. Company officals cited pricing pressure due to a general glut in the storage market as the key factor in the company's weak performance.