Video encoding and management solution provider ViewCast today said its 4Q2009 revenues were down from the same period a year earlier, but had shown a return to sequential growth over the previous quarter, reversing field after the Plano, Texas-based company saw its sales growth stutter in last year's pale economy. ViewCast said it expected growth to continue through the first quarter of 2010, driven by strong sales of its Niagara 7500 HD encoder and the release of its Niagara SCX 6.1 Streaming Media Management software, both of which support H.264.
ViewCast said revenues for the quarter were $3.4 million, compared to $4.3 million in the like 2008 quarter, and $3 million in 3Q09. The company reported gross profit of $2.2 million for the quarter, down from $3.0 million a year ago, partially due to a change in its revenue mix with lower Osprey sales, and a higher percentage of sales coming from OEM system products. Despite an aggressive year of cost cutting and cost control, ViewCast nonetheless showed an increase in its net loss for the quarter of $301,000, compared to $42,000 a year ago.
"The fourth quarter marked an important milestone in the company's recovery as the product development and marketing infrastructure advancements we made during the past 18 months began to bear fruit and as our key markets began to show an uptick," said Dave Stoner, president and CEO. "We believe we are well positioned to return to regular quarterly growth and improving financial results. Our goal in the first part of 2010 is to further capitalize on positive trends as we launch new sales initiatives, introduce the product advancements necessary to stay ahead of the competition and seek new products and technologies to better utilize our distribution network."
For the year, ViewCast reported a net loss for 2009 of $2.8 million compared to a net profit of $531,000 a year earlier, on sales of $13.9 million, down from $17.4 million in 2008.
"Our sales volume reversed its trend back to positive growth during the fourth quarter of 2009 and we expect that trend to continue for the 2010 year," said Stoner. "We can now see evidence of increases in sales of all product lines taking hold, as we have seen a greater than 30 percent increase in booked orders received in the first quarter of 2010 compared to the fourth quarter of 2009 providing us backlog into the second quarter. Although Q4 is typically a higher sales quarter than Q1, we expect sequential growth in the first quarter of 2010."
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