Westell Technologies, Inc.

Westell Technologies, Inc.

WSTL
Westell Technologies, Inc.US flagOther OTC
7.34
USD
-0.13
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74.74MMarket Cap

Q1 FY2009 · Earnings Call TranscriptSeptember 21, 2008

APIChatGPT

Executives

John Seazholtz – Chairman of the Board Bernie Sergesketter – Chief Executive Officer Amy Forster – Chief Financial Officer Tim Pillow – Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer Tim Reedy – President and Chief Executive Officer of ConferencePlus Brian Powers – Chief Executive Officer of Hellman & Friedman

Analysts

Carter Driscoll – CD Capital Partners Todd Koffman – Raymond James & Associates, Inc. David Weissman – Zacks Investment Research, Inc.

Brad Evans – Heartland Group Inc. Mohammed Ahmad – Beeham Capital Management

Operator

John Seazholtz

Bernie Sergesketter

Amy Forster

Thank you, Bernie. Westell reported a net loss for the first quarter of fiscal 2009, of $5.5 million or $0.08 per diluted share compared to a net loss of $916,000 or $0.01 per diluted share for the first quarter of last year.

Total revenue from continued operations for the June 2008 quarter was $38.1 million compared to $44.2 million in the last quarter and $58.4 million in the first quarter of last year. These numbers exclude revenue from our subsidiary Westell Limited which is shown as "discontinued operations" in our financial statements.

Revenue by product line for the June quarter compared to the March quarter were as follows. Customer networking equipment revenue decreased 37% to $10.7 million from $16.9 million.

Outside plant equipment revenue increased 13% to $14.9 million from $13.2 million and Conferencing Services revenue decreased 11% to $12.5 million from $14.1 million. The majority of the revenue decline was in our CNE products which declined $6.2 million from last quarter and $20.4 million from the same quarter of last year.

The current quarter decline compared to last quarter resulted primarily from a decrease in units of legacy products sold to Verizon. Also, revenue in the first quarter of fiscal 2008 included sales to BellSouth which we did not have in the first quarter of fiscal 2009.We expect CNE revenue to grow in fiscal year 2009 as we start to ship the UltraLine Series3 Gateway to Verizon and ProLine modems to AT&T.

We have initial orders of UltraLine Series3 representing over $20 million of revenue and we expect to receive more orders in the short-term for delivery in the current year. While these shipments are expected to commence in the current quarter, the revenue recognition will be deferred until those unit are installed at end customer sites which is expected in our third fiscal quarter.

The first quarter ConferencePlus revenue decline was due primarily to the loss of revenue of its second largest customer. We anticipate revenue will decline an additional 13% in the current quarter due to this decline combined with seasonality as European and other countries vacation in the month of August.

The Company took actions in July to reduce and align costs at ConferencePlus as a result of this lower revenue that resulted in the termination of approximately 23 employees. The equipment segment gross margin from continuing operations in the quarter was 28% compared to 17% in the prior quarter and 25% in the June 2007 quarter.

The increase from last quarter was due primarily to excess and obsolete inventory expensed in the prior quarter and more efficient overhead absorption as well as a higher mix of OSP product in the current quarter. We expect equipment margin in the second quarter to be in the high 20's.

Service segment gross margin was 45% in the current quarter and 48% in the prior quarter and 50% in the first quarter of last year. The decline in the current quarter is due primarily to lower revenue.

We expect service margin to be in the high 40's for the second quarter. Operating expenses for the current and last quarter were $18 million excluding restructuring Westell Limited and goodwill impairment expense.

Operating expenses for the second quarter are expected to be $20 million and include $670,000 of severance expense and $800,000 of non-cash, stock-based compensation expense resulting from the immediate vesting of restricted stock to our former CEO. Some other important points of interest for the quarter are as follows.

Just prior to the quarterly blackout the Company announced a $10 million share buyback program and purchased 29,000 shares under this program in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008. The Company has been unable to purchase their shares since then due to an event-specific blackout imposed related to the ConferencePlus sale process and now, due to the quarterly blackout.

We intend to commence buying again on Monday when the blackout period ends. Cash and short-term investments excluding Contineo cash at the end of June was $59 million compared to a balance in March of $66 million.

The decrease in the current quarter was due primarily to the payment of year-end bonuses, accrued severance and the distribution of a former CEO's deferred compensation. Capital expenditures for the quarter were $1.2 million, non-cash items include depreciation expense of $1 million and tangible asset amortization of $460,000, and stock-based compensation expense of $375,000.

And Verizon represented 31% of revenue for the quarter and AT&T was 16%. I will conclude my remarks with a discussion of our guidance for the second quarter ending September 30th, 2008.

We expect revenue for the second quarter to be in a range of $37 million to $39 million and we expect to incur a loss within a range of $0.10 to $0.11 per share with a full valuation allowance recorded on tax benefits generated in the period. As a reminder, although we will start shipping our new UltraLine Series3 product in the current quarter, we will not recognize revenue on these shipments until all revenue recognition criteria are met.

I will now open the floor to questions.

Operator

Carter Driscoll - CD Capital Partners

Amy Forster

Carter Driscoll - CD Capital Partners

Amy Forster

Tim Pillow

Carter Driscoll - CD Capital Partners

Tim Pillow

Carter Driscoll - CD Capital Partners

Tim Pillow

Carter Driscoll - CD Capital Partners

Tim Pillow

Carter Driscoll - CD Capital Partners

Tim Pillow

Carter Driscoll - CD Capital Partners

Tim Pillow

Carter Driscoll - CD Capital Partners

Tim Pillow

Carter Driscoll - CD Capital Partners

Bernie Sergesketter

Brian Powers

Carter Driscoll - CD Capital Partners

Brian Powers

Carter Driscoll - CD Capital Partners

Brian Powers

Carter Driscoll - CD Capital Partners

Bernie Sergesketter

Tim Reedy

Carter Driscoll - CD Capital Partners

Tim Reedy

Carter Driscoll - CD Capital Partners

Tim Reedy

Carter Driscoll - CD Capital Partners

Amy Forster

Carter Driscoll - CD Capital Partners

Amy Forster

Carter Driscoll - CD Capital Partners

Amy Forster

Carter Driscoll - CD Capital Partners

Amy Forster

Tim Pillow

Carter Driscoll - CD Capital Partners

Tim Pillow

Carter Driscoll - CD Capital Partners

Amy Forster

Carter Driscoll - CD Capital Partners

Amy Forster

Carter Driscoll - CD Capital Partners

Operator

Todd Koffman - Raymond James & Associates, Inc.

Amy Forster

Todd Koffman - Raymond James

& Associates, Inc.

Amy Forster

Todd Koffman - Raymond James

& Associates, Inc.

Bernie Sergesketter

Tim Pillow

Todd Koffman - Raymond James

& Associates, Inc.

Tim Pillow

Todd Koffman - Raymond James

& Associates, Inc.

Tim Pillow

Operator

David Weissman - Zacks Investment Research , Inc.

Amy Forster

David Weissman - Zacks Investment Research, Inc.

Amy Forster

David Weissman - Zacks Investment Research, Inc.

Amy Forster

David Weissman - Zacks Investment Research, Inc.

Amy Forster

David Weissman - Zacks Investment Research, Inc.

Operator

Brad Evans – Heartland Group Inc.

Amy Forster

Bernie Sergesketter

Brad Evans - Heartland

Group Inc.

Bernie Sergesketter

Brad Evans - Heartland

Group Inc.

Bernie Sergesketter

Brad Evans - Heartland

Group Inc.

Bernie Sergesketter

Brad Evans - Heartland

Group Inc.

Bernie Sergesketter

Brad Evans - Heartland

Group Inc.

Bernie Sergesketter

Brad Evans - Heartland

Group Inc.

Bernie Sergesketter

Operator

Carter Driscoll - CD Capital Partners

Amy Forster

Carter Driscoll - CD Capital Partners

Amy Forster

Carter Driscoll - CD Capital Partners

Amy Forster

Carter Driscoll - CD Capital Partners

Bernie Sergesketter

Operator

Mohammed Ahmad - Beeham Capital Management

Bernie Sergesketter

Tim Reedy

Mohammed Ahmad - Beeham Capital Management

Amy Forster

Mohammed Ahmad - Beeham Capital Management

Amy Forster

Mohammed Ahmad - Beeham Capital Management

Bernie Sergesketter

John Seazholtz

Mohammed Ahmad - Beeham Capital Management

John Seazholtz

Mohammed Ahmad - Beeham Capital Management

John Seazholtz

Bernie Sergesketter

John Seazholtz

Mohammed Ahmad - Beeham Capital Management

Bernie Sergesketter

Operator

Todd Koffman - Raymond James & Associates, Inc.

Bernie Sergesketter

Tim Reedy

Todd Koffman - Raymond James & Associates, Inc.

Operator

Bernie Sergesketter

Well, thank you everyone for joining us and as I mentioned before we will have a webcast at our Annual Meeting on September 18th. Thank you very much.