(RTTNews) - Thursday, Atmel Corp. (ATML: News ), a producer of microcontrollers, reported that its loss in the third-quarter widened from the previous year quarter. The company also noted that the revenue decreased 21% from the previous year quarter.

Atmel recorded a third-quarter net loss of $17.5 million or $0.04 per share, compared to net loss of $4.7 million or $0.01 per share last year.

Excluding charges, net loss was $4.0 million or $0.01 per share compared to net profit of $42.6 million or $0.09 per share last year.

On average, seven analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report a loss of $0.02 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Revenues were $317.7 million, compared to $400.0 million last year. Analysts expected revenue of $303.60 million for the quarter, a 21% decrease compared to last year.

Gross profit has been adversely impacted by a reduction in factory utilization at the company's two wafer fabrication facilities.
Net loss for the nine months were $26.23 million or $0.06 per share versus a loss of $2.85 million or $0.01 per share last year. Net revenues for the nine months were $873.76 million versus $1.23 billion last year.

For the fourth quarter of 2009, the company expects revenue will increase 3%-7% on a sequential basis.

ATML closed Thursday's regular trading at $3.91 up $0.12 or 3.17% on a volume of 6.932 million shares on the Nasdaq.

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by RTT Staff Writer

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