Sun Microsystems has reported that its fourth quarter profit fell 80% in comparison with the same period last year.
The server maker said it earned $12m, while revenue reached $2.98 billion, which was 13% lower than the $3.42 in sales recorded in the fourth quarter last year.
Excluding a $24 million loss from investments, Sun reported earnings of a penny per share. Analysts had expected Sun to post a profit of 2 cents per share.
For its full fiscal year, Sun reported a net loss of $2.4 billion, which included a $2.1 billion impairment charge to write down goodwill. Sun lost $587 million in fiscal 2002. Sales for the year came in at $11.4 billion, a 9% decline from fiscal 2002.
In a statement Sun Microsystems chief executive Scott McNealy said he hoped that the coming fiscal year would be better. 'We enter the new fiscal year with an intense focus toward growing revenue, improving profitability and maintaining positive cash flow from operations,' he said. Sun employs over 200 staff in Ireland.
