March's Losses and Layoffs Examined

Published Jun 10, 2010 00:00 AM
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While the rate of overall revenue decline diminished, losses and layoffs continued for March Networks during the February through April 2010 period.

According to the financial results announced, March Network's revenue dropped 1% but losses from writedowns were over $20 Million CAD (approximately $4 Million CAD from write down of investment tax credits and $16 Million CAD from future tax assets).

Additionally, March Networks laid off approximately 7% of their workforce [link no longer available] (20 people). The rationale March cited was to, "transitioning the March business into more sales and marketing activities, and it reflects how the business is moving more into a software sphere." This is in addition to layoffs in 2009 and in 2008 [link no longer available].

March's quarterly conference call slides [link no longer available] provide additional details on their performance:

  • Pulling revenue down was an 11% reduction in fixed product sales, down from $15.4 to $13.7 Million CAD.
  • Best revenue driver were services up 59% from $1.8 to $2.8 Million CAD.
  • Gross margins fell materially from 56% overall down to 50%.
  • The company expects revenue and profit to rise in the next 12 months