WiMAX systems developer Alvarion Ltd. (Nasdaq: ALVR; TASE: ALVR) today reported a first quarter revenue and loss per share that were worse than analysts' estimates and which were at the low end of the company's own guidance. Alvarion also declined to provide guidance for the second quarter.
Revenue fell 23.58% to $51.9 million for the first quarter from $67.9 million for the corresponding quarter of 2009, and 13.8% less than the $60.2 million for the preceding quarter.
GAAP-based net loss rose to $4.9 million ($0.08 per share) for the first quarter from $852,000 for the corresponding quarter. Non-GAAP net loss rose to $3.7 million ($0.06 per share) from $724,000 for the corresponding quarter.
Alvarion missed the analysts' consensus of $55.7 million revenue and a loss per share of $0.02. Alvarion predicted in its own guidance that it would report $50-60 million revenue, 11.6-26.3% less than for the corresponding quarter, and it predicted between a non-GAAP loss per share of $0.07 ($4.3 million) and earnings per share of $0.01 ($620,000).
Alvarion did not provide guidance for the second quarter, beyond suggesting that "there may be another sequential decline in revenue", which it attributes to the timing of revenue from several large projects cannot be predicted with accuracy. The company added, however, that it expects "gradual improvement to begin during the second half of the year."
Alvarion president and CEO Eran Gorev said, "The first quarter results were within the range of our guidance and, as expected, reflect continued delays in several business catalysts. Meanwhile, we continued the expansion of our business with several existing customers and made important progress toward securing several major projects in Asia Pacific, EMEA and North America. The timing of actual orders is difficult to anticipate, but we hope to see some impact from these developments in 2010. We are using the delay in the business catalysts to strengthen our capabilities in order to capture a larger share of the projects once the vendor selection processes move forward."
Gorev added, “After a thorough business review, we are moving decisively to implement a two-stage plan. First, we are transforming the organization, including our cost structure, into one that will best serve our near-term strategic business objectives. These changes will allow us to more effectively focus on the right opportunities, deliver end-to-end network solutions including professional services, and, in turn, capture a larger proportion of the total project dollars than we have in the past.
“The second stage of our plan will focus on positioning Alvarion for profitable growth in the increasingly complex multi-technology environment that will evolve over the next couple of years. We intend to complete the process and begin to implement the next phase of our plan during the second half of the year.”
Yesterday, "Globes" was the first to report another wave of layoffs at Alvarion, its fourth in recent years, and cut up to 150 employees, 17% of its global workforce. The company fired 110 employees during 2009. The company did not comment on the reasons for the latest layoffs, and investors are waiting for news.
Alvarion's share price fell 0.5% on Nasdaq yesterday to $3.72, giving a market cap of $277 million. The share price fell 2.6% in early trading on the TASE today to NIS 13.33.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 4, 2010
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2010