DynaVox (DVOX), a manufacturer of speech generating devices, said on Thursday it swung to loss for its fourth quarter, primarily due to a one-time charge, along with decreased revenues and higher income tax payment.
Excluding items, the company reported breakeven earnings per share that badly missed Street analysts' estimates, and sales too came in below their view.
Net loss for the fourth quarter was $5.1 million or a loss of $0.47 per share, compared to net income of $0.9 million or $0.10 per share in the prior year.
The current quarter loss was primarily caused by a one time impairment loss of $4.8 million.
Excluding items, the company's adjusted net loss for the quarter was $35,000 or nil per share, compared to net income of $3.6 million or $0.12 per share in the year ago period.
On average, three analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn of $0.08 per share for the first quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Net revenues for the fourth quarter were $23.90 million, down 26 % from $32.34 million for the same quarter last year. Three analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $25.72 million for the quarter.
Among segments, sales of speech generating devices decreased 22% to $20.9 million from last year, and sales of special education software declined 48% to $3.0 million.
The company's gross margin for the quarter was essentially flat at 70.1%, compared to the prior year quarter.
Moving ahead, the company has cautioned that the budget challenges in schools and the regulatory uncertainty in the national health care arena will continue through fiscal 2013, and that it is incumbent upon it to seek new areas to propel growth.
Shares of DynaVox closed at $0.77, up 2 cents or 2.67 %, on the Nasdaq.
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