Palm Inc, the world's largest maker of handheld computers, had a profit for the second time in two years as it cut costs and received a US$5 million insurance payment. The shares rose as much as 13 percent.
Net income in the second-quarter was US$3.52 million, or US$.12 a share, compared with a loss of US$25.2 million, or US$0.89, a year earlier. Sales fell 8.8 percent to US$264.9 million in the quarter ended Nov. 29 from US$290.6 million a year before.
Palm lowered marketing and other expenses as rivals, including Handspring Inc, Hewlett-Packard Co and Sony Corp, capture a greater share of the dwindling market for handhelds. Palm has tried to boost sales with higher-priced models designed for businesses and with the US$99 Zire for new users.
"The handheld industry is declining less rapidly now than it has over the last several quarters," Eric Benhamou, Palm's chairman and chief executive officer, said on a conference call.
Palm shares rose as high as US$2.12 to US$18.60 in after-hours trading following the release of the results. They fell US$.52 to US$16.73 by 4pm in regular trading on the NASDAQ.
Palm will return to a loss in the third-quarter as sales drop from a year before, said Chief Financial Officer Judy Bruner. It will have a "modest" loss for the quarter, excluding amortization of assets and other cost, she said. Sales will be US$230 million to US$250 million, Bruner said, down from US$292.7 million a year earlier.
The computer maker's results in the most recent quarter exceeded the company's earlier expectations. In September, Palm said it would have a "small loss" on sales of US$245 million to US$265 million for the quarter. Palm's costs dropped 19 percent in the quarter from a year ago to US$264.5 million because marketing, research and administration expenses declined.
Palm received a US$5 million payment from insurers during the quarter to cover the cost of a disruption to its business two years ago, when a parts supplier's factory burned down, Bruner said.
Palm's stock market value, which exceeded that of Ford Motor Co on the first day of trading in March 2000, has declined by more than US$15 billion over the past two years, standing at US$485 million by the close of the regular trading day. In October, it exchanged one share for every 20 owned by investors to keep the price high enough to meet the minimum value required by the NASDAQ.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft