Marine satellite sales up 19 percent for KVH

MIDDLETOWN, R.I. – Spurred by strong sales of marine satellite products, KVH Industries, Inc. – a manufacturer of satellite communications for the marine and RV markets – reported a slight gain in revenue for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, in a release yesterday.

The company’s overall revenue for the period was $13.8 million, up 2 percent from $13.5 million in the previous year’s quarter. Net loss for the period was ($1.6) million, or ($0.11) per share. By comparison, KVH recorded a net loss of ($0.47) million, or ($0.04) per share for the same period last year.

“Our quarterly satellite sales growth was driven in large part by sales of our marine satellite products, which were up 19 percent year-over-year,” said Martin Kits van Heyningen, KVH’s president and CEO. “However, we believe that the hurricanes that passed through Florida and the southeastern United States in August and September did have a negative impact on our overall satellite revenues for the quarter.

“Year-to-date, Florida alone has represented more than 25 percent of our North American marine product sales and approximately 10 percent of sales to the RV and automotive markets. We expect that the effects of these storms will extend into the fourth quarter as recovery efforts continue in the region.”

KVH said its revenue increased 13 percent to $46.3 million from $41.0 million for the nine months ended Sept. 30 and reported a net loss of ($6.4) million or ($0.46) per share for the 2004 period, versus a net profit of $0.2 million or $0.01 per basic and diluted share in the year ago period.

The company’s mobile satellite communications revenue was up 12 percent in the third quarter of 2004 to $10.3 million compared to the same period in 2003, driven by solid growth in sales to the domestic and European marine markets. Year-to-date, mobile satellite communications revenue was up 40 percent compared to the first nine months of 2003.

“Despite the only modest growth in revenue, the new measures we put in place to reduce our operating costs showed meaningful benefit. We met our goals on the bottom line and achieved or bettered our targets in several operational areas.”

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