KVH widens loss in first quarter

KVH INDUSTRIES saw revenue decline slightly in the first quarter, but its net loss nearly doubled.
KVH INDUSTRIES saw revenue decline slightly in the first quarter, but its net loss nearly doubled. / COURTESY KVH INDUSTRIES

MIDDLETOWN – KVH Industries Inc. saw revenue increase 11.7 percent in the first quarter, but its net loss widened by 26.6 percent.
KVH, a provider of guidance and Internet systems for the maritime and defense industries, said revenue was $41.3 million, compared with $37 million during the year-ago period.
First-quarter revenue for products was $15.4 million, 15 percent less than last year, mainly due to a drop in fiber optic gyro sales, but service revenue was $25.9 million, an increase of 37 percent compared with last year, including $5.9 million in revenue alone from the July acquisition of Videotel, the company said.
The net loss was $1.4 million, or 9 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $1.1 million, or 7 cents per share, recorded during the year-ago period.
“Overall we are very pleased with our progress in the first quarter. In particular, we are excited about the reception given to our new IP-MobileCast service and are already seeing the benefit of having an integrated service and content offering,” Martin Kits van Heyningen, KVH’s CEO, said in a statement. “We believe that the availability of IPMobileCast played a major role in our ability to win recent larger fleet deals for which we might not have been as competitive in the past. Although the daily usage on metered plans related to the offshore oil and gas services was down significantly during the quarter, other sectors, like commercial shipping and leisure, remain strong. Our VSAT pipeline and backlog are robust.”
The company said it expects continued growth and improving profitability as it progresses throughout the year. It said in its earnings release that it expects “solid growth” in its marine VSAT business, but expects its defense business to remain flat. As a result, it said revenue for the full year is projected to be $190 million to $210 million, with net income in the range of $4.6 million to $6.2 million. It said that significant changes to currency exchange rates, particularly between the U.S. dollar and pounds sterling, could affect earnings.

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