Saville Systems, which has its headquarters in Galway, has announced a net loss of $3.2 million (€3.4 million) or eight cents per share in the first quarter, compared to net income of $9.2 million in the first three months of 1998.
Saville, which provides convergent billing and customer care software solutions for the telecommunications and energy industries, said revenue dropped by 21 per cent to $30.2 million from $38 million in the year-ago period.
The company warned earlier this month that the results would not match expectations, saying sales would be $30-$32 million with a net loss of between five and nine cents per share.
The shares fell following the profit warning and edged down again in early trading yesterday. By the close of business in Dublin, Saville shares were down $0.5 at $13, though well above the low of $5.62 they hit after the profit warning. The stock, which is quoted on the Nasdaq, was trading at almost $60 only a year ago.
Meanwhile, US broker BT Alex Brown said it was cutting Saville to a market perform from a buy rating.
However, the company remains upbeat on several fronts. "With several of our initial UNIX customer sites having gone into production during the first quarter, we expect to see further momentum in our UNIX sales opportunities," said Mr Jack Boyle, Saville's chairman and chief executive. He said the company was also pleased with the early market acceptance of two products released in 1999, Saville-Care and Saville-Express, and this should help it to capitalise on opportunities in the billing and customer care market during the remainder of 1999.
