22 Feb Merge Healthcare announces more losses, new cash focus
Milwaukee, Wis. – In announcing its financial results for the third quarter and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2007, the financially troubled Merge Healthcare said it would focus on cash preservation and the infusion of capital in the months ahead.
With nets losses of $162 million, or $4.78 per share, and $141.6 million, or $4.17 per share for the first nine months and the third quarter of 2007, respectively, Merge said it is considering a number of strategic options. They include debt or equity financing, the sale of selected assets, and ongoing cost savings initiatives.
Merge’s cash balance on Dec. 31, 2007 was approximately $14 million compared to $21.7 million on Sept. 30, 2007.
The company, which has faced delisting on the NASDAQ Stock Market, said it would focus on what it considers to be its core strengths, including a teleradiology initiative announced late last year.
Merge, which has closed its closed its office in Burlington, Mass., recently announced a rightsizing initiative aimed at reducing its global workforce from approximately 600 to 440 employees by the end of March. The estimated cost savings from the rightsizing, the termination of the Burlington office lease, and anticipated attrition is $11 to $12 million on an annual basis.
Its net loss for the first nine months of 2007 – $162.0 million, or $4.78 per share – compared to a net loss of $227.5 million, or $6.76 per share for the first nine months of 2006.
The net loss for the third quarter of 2007 – $141.6 million, or $4.17 per share – compared to a net loss of $11.2 million, or $0.33 per share, in the third quarter of 2006 and a net loss of $10.7 million, or $0.32 per share in the second quarter of 2007.
For the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2007, revenue totaled $44.0 million compared to $61.5 million in the nine months ended September 30, 2006, a decrease of 28 percent.
Revenue for the third quarter of 2007 was $14.1 million, which compares to the $13.9 million in the third quarter of 2006 and $14 million in the second quarter of 2007.
Merge also announced that it has filed its third quarter 2007 Form 10-Q with the Securities and Exchange Commission and is now current with its filings with the SEC.
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