LUXEMBOURG-Smart-card company Gemplus International announced its fourth-quarter revenues increased to $297 million and its net loss increased to about $31 million due to restructuring costs and other one-time expenses.
“Reporting an operating profit before restructuring for the fourth quarter is the best measure of delivery against the turnaround plan we announced in December 2002,” said Alex Mandl, the company’s president and chief executive officer. “Our decisive action on costs, along with a greater emphasis on customer focus and revenue growth, enabled the company to make further progress toward our strategic objectives. We look forward to reporting further improvements in performance as the year progresses, taking into account usual seasonality.”
Specifically, the company’s wireless card revenue was up almost 60 percent year on year due to increasing sales in the United States and Europe. The company said its restructuring has put it in a good position to capture market opportunities in the coming months, and that sales of Subscriber Identity Module cards will continue to increase in the United States and elsewhere.
The company’s stock was down about 7 percent to about $5.21 per share.
