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Irish e-payment security company Trintech warned that revenues and pro forma profits in the fourth quarter are likely to fall below previous guidance.
The maker of Payware and other e-payment and point-of-sale solutions said it expects pro forma net loss for Q4, which excludes restructuring charges and non-cash items, to be in the range of USD2 million to USD3 million. These figures come in noticeably higher than Trintech's previous estimations of pro forma losses between USD1 million and USD2.5 million. Nevertheless, if the company meets its revised expectations it will still have shown a drop in losses from the previous quarter when it reported a pro forma net loss of USD3.6 million.
The Irish firm also said that it expects revenues for the fourth quarter to be less than its prior guidance of USD17 million to USD19 million and now says revenues should come in between USD15 million and USD16 million in the final quarter of the year.
In both Frankfurt and Hamburg, Trintech shares were down around 13 percent following the news, trading at around EUR1.35 after lunchtime on Tuesday.
"Worsening of market conditions" are to blame for the lowered expectations, the company claimed. But Trintech held fast in its cash balance predictions for the full year saying, "tight fiscal management of the company's cost base" would allow it to have a cash balance at year's end of between USD57 million and USD62 million.
The firm's reduction of its cost base has led to USD20 million in annualised savings in operating expenses between Q4 last year and Q4 this year, explained John McGuire, chief executive officer of Trintech. "We continue to believe that Trintech stands on a solid financial foundation and we continue to take the appropriate action to ensure that Trintech is well positioned to take advantage of a market recovery," McGuire said.
According to Thomson Financial/ First Call, analysts on average had been expecting the company to report losses per share of around USD0.03 for the fourth quarter of 2001. These estimates also predicted revenues of around USD18 million in the quarter which Trintech has confirmed it will now miss.
Moreover the company said in late 2001 that it expected to reach profitability in its first quarter for 2002, but analysts are now suggesting that the company may push this target back another quarter. A Trintech spokesperson say that the company will offer renewed guidance on profitability and full-year expectations next week when the firm's full results are released.
As of October Trintech was known to employ around 220 in Dublin and almost 550 worldwide. These figures are also set to be updated next week. Trintech's fourth quarter results are due out on 27 February.
The company can be found on-line at http://www.trintech.com.
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