News

posted on 01 May 2008 20:20

Tandberg Data has announced its first encouraging results since the energency refinancing and there are reasons to be cheerful.

Net revenue for Q1fy08 was $50.6 million, up a trivial 0.8 percent fromQ1fy07, but up 3.9 percent from Q4fy07. The operating loss of $2.2 million has more than halved from the $4.7 milllion in Q4 fy07 but compares to the $1.2 million net profit in Q1fy07. Things turned bad with near terrifying speed which necessitated wholesale top level management changes and emergency refinancing to avoid bankruptcy.

Things are recovering: gross margin improved to 24.4 percent from 20.5 percent in the previous quarter. Cost reductions are going to plan with more benefits expected in the next two quarters.

The product sales highlight is the RDX QuikStor removable hard drive. Sales rose 20 percent from the previous quarter, and 100 percent from Q1fy07, and increasing sales can be seen by Tandberg's management for a good four years. New OEM wins are expected for the product before the end of the year.

On the tape side the DLT products were canned and that affected results in the EMEA region. The LTO sales volume wasn't satisfactory, despite LTO's increasing popularity, and Tandberg is looking to achieve a lower product cost from its suppliers so that it can profit from the sales volume.

The company stated: 'Q1 2008 was an important quarter for Tandberg Data. The new board of directors and management team set high goals for 2008, many of whom were dependent on delivering on a few key initiatives in Q1 2008. The management delivered to plan, and the company now has, after the completion of the restructuring plan, both from an operational expense and financial restructuring perspective, put itself in a position for future sustainability and growth.'

Concerning its outlook the company stated: 'Revenues and gross margin will stay relatively flat compared to 2007, a key goal the company believes is achievable even while going through the (restructuring) changes. Beyond 2008, both revenues and gross margin are expected to improve as the company has completed the restructuring phase and can re-focus more on top- and bottom-line growth.'

The company's board, management and investors have pulled it back from the absolute brink of a financial precipice. Now management has shown the initial results needed to provode a basis for stability and growth. All credit to them.

^{[Paul Roberts, news editor.]}