11/24/2004
TORONTO - Leitch Technology shares were down more than 17 per cent in morning trading on the TSX after after the company reported a small quarterly profit that fell short of expectations.
Shares of the company were off $1.85 at $8.60 on a trading volume of more than 1.4 million shares.
After the close of trading on Tuesday, the company reported its first quarterly profit in four years as it posted net income of $966,000. The maker of equipment used by the broadcast and cable industry said it made 3 cents a share in the second quarter.
That compares with a net loss of $6.4 million, or 19 cents per share, a year earlier when revenues were $36.4 million, prior to a change in senior management and the acquisition of Videotek Inc., a Pennsylvania company, earlier this year.
"Last quarter we reported our first operating profit in two years. This quarter, we are reporting our first net earnings in four years," Leitch chief executive Tim Thorsteinson, who joined the company a year ago, said in a statement.
"We continue to execute on the strategy we outlined last year, and now have the financial resources to facilitate the continued growth of the business."
While the company's revenues were in line with analysts' expectations, according to Thomson Financial, the company missed consensus estimates on its earnings of five cents a share.
Leitch's revenue rose to $55.8 million, up from $36.4 million a year ago.
Leitch's line of new-generation server products generated $14.2 million in revenue, up from $4.2 million a year earlier. Revenues from Leitch's post-production services declined two per cent to $4 million.
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