Mortice Kern Systems Inc, the Canadian software management and testing tools company, finished its fiscal year off on a sour note, posting a fourth-quarter net loss of C$4.5m ($3.1m) on revenue that inched up just 1.6% to C$10.9m ($7.4m). For the year-ago quarter, net income was C$573,000 ($389,000), or C$0.04 per share. Excluding $392,000 ($266,000) in one-time acquisition charges, the loss for the quarter was still $3.7m ($2.5m).
The results came in line with a warning issued last month, as the company blamed the poor quarterly performance on its rapid expansion through acquisition. It says one of the consequences of this strategy was sales execution challenges as its sales force continues to be integrated. MKS asserts that it is taking direct action to address the issues, and reckons that the fourth quarter will prove to be a mere glitch going forward.
For the full year, MKS reported a net loss of C$12.2m ($8.3m) on revenue that rose 37% to C$50.8m ($34.5m), compared to net income of C$1.6m ($1.1m), or C$0.11 per share, last year. Full-year results include acquisition-related charges totaling C$10.2m ($6.9m), without which the net loss was C$770,000 ($523,000). á
