Echelon Corporation (Echelon), a US-based developer of network infrastructure products, has reported total revenues of $18.2 million for the first quarter of 2009, compared with the total revenues of $35.6 million in the year-ago quarter. It has also reported net loss of $10.6 million, or $0.26 loss per share, for the first quarter of 2009, compared with the net loss of $6.8 million, or $0.17 loss per share in the year-ago quarter.
The revenues for first quarter of 2009 were comprised of $11.2 million from LonWorks infrastructure products, $5.7 million from the company’s Networked Energy Services (NES) products, and $1.3 million from the Enel project. Revenues for the quarter ended March 31, 2008 were $13.8 million from LonWorks infrastructure products, $20.5 million from NES products, and $1.3 million from the Enel project.
Gross margin for the first quarter of 2009 was 43.4%, compared with 34.7% for the same period in 2008, as LonWorks infrastructure products were a larger percentage of revenues. Total operating expenses for the quarter were $18.6 million compared to $19.6 million for the same period in 2008.
The non-GAAP net loss for the quarter, which excludes stock-based compensation expenses, was $7.5 million, or $0.19 cents per share, compared to non-GAAP net loss of $3.5 million, or $0.09 cents per share, for the same period in 2008.
As anticipated, we saw both of our products lines affected by the current economic environment, stated Ken Oshman, chairman and chief executive officer of Echelon. We took steps to manage our costs and expenses in the near-term, while preserving critical investments in product and market development. We believe these investments will position Echelon at the forefront of new applications and emerging markets, such as intelligent streetlighting and advanced smart metering, as companies prioritize the need to conserve energy and save costs. With the recent local, national and international governmental initiatives and announcements surrounding energy efficiency and the smart grid, we believe our markets and customers have the potential to benefit from this momentum and the stimulus program longer term, concluded Oshman.
Business Outlook:
Echelon expects:
Total revenue to be about $21.0 million to $23.0 million, with NES revenue accounting for 43%, LonWorks revenue 50% and Enel project revenue 7%;
Non-GAAP gross margin to be in the range of 39% to 41%;
Non-GAAP operating expenses to be about $16 million to $16.5 million;
Stock-based compensation expenses to be about $4.3 million;
The company’s provision for income taxes is expected to be about $140,000;
Non-GAAP loss per share to be $0.18 to $0.22, based on a fully diluted weighted average shares outstanding of 40,500,000;
GAAP loss per share of between $0.28 and $0.32 for the quarter.