Palm Reports Net Loss

By Amy Gilroy -- TWICE, 10/2/2007

Sunnyvale, Calif. — Palm reported revenue of $360.8 million and a net loss of $8 million for its first quarter, ended Aug. 31.

The company said its smartphone sales for the quarter hit 689,000 units, up 21 percent year-over-year. Smartphone revenue was $302.2 million, up 12 percent from the year-ago period.

The net loss for the quarter included stock-based compensation expense of approximately $5.1 million, amortization of intangible assets of approximately $1 million, patent acquisition cost of $5 million, restructuring charges of approximately $6.6 million and gain on sale of land of approximately $4.4 million. This compares to net income for the first quarter of fiscal year 2007 of $16.5 million.

Net income in the first fiscal quarter totaled $9.7 million, and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization totaled $4.1 million.

Palm president/CEO Ed Colligan said, “As we move toward completing the recapitalization transaction with Elevation Partners, we are excited to strengthen our ability to accelerate Palm's growth in the future.”

In June, Palm sold a quarter of the company to private equity firm Elevation Partners, which agreed to invest $325 million in Palm.