General Instrument Posts Loss Of $58.1 Million for 2nd Quarter
March 31, 2011
CHICAGO -- General Instrument Corp. reported a $58.1 million second-quarter net loss, which it attributed largely to a charge related to a recent court judgment. The loss amounted to 45 cents a share, compared with net income of $54.1 million, or 44 cents a share, a year earlier. Sales grew 10% to $675.2 million from $611.6 million. The results include a charge of $92 million, or 71 cents a share. The cable and satellite-technology company said last month it would record the charge after a U.S. District Court in Texas entered a $136.7 million judgment against General Instrument's Next Level Communications unit, which the company acquired in September. General Instrument said it plans to appeal the judgment. General Instrument said that excluding the litigation charge, earnings were $34 million, or 26 cents a share. Those results, which were announced following the close of trading, are above analysts' consensus earnings estimates of 24 cents a share, according to First Call. The company said that demand and sales of its core cable-industry equipment remain strong, but that the results reflect lower initial gross margins from new products, increased investment in research and a higher effective income-tax rate. In New York Stock Exchange trading Thursday, General Instrument closed up $2.25, or 9.6%, at $25.625. The company attributed the stock activity in part to a positive analyst's report. For the six months, the net loss totaled $26.9 million, or 21 cents a share, compared with net income of $111.1 million, or 90 cents a share. Sales rose 5.7% to $1.29 billion from $1.22 billion.
