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VeriFone Holdings Inc. yesterday reported a $182 million net loss for its fiscal first-quarter ended Jan. 31 on revenue of $214 million. The San Jose, Calif.-based point-of-sale terminal maker reported a net loss of $33.5 million on revenue of $185.5 million during the same period last year. VeriFone CEO Douglas G. Bergeron blames the ailing economy for the larger net loss. A $178 million write down of the company's goodwill based on changes in VeriFone's stock price accounts for a good part of the loss. A year ago, VeriFone's shares closed at $19.12, but were trading at $4.38 earlier today. "Simply put, our business continued to weaken in the quarter," Bergeron told analysts during a conference all yesterday. "We saw across the board softening in demand throughout our markets with only a few notable exceptions." VeriFone's North America region reported a 23.9% increase in revenue, to $83.9 million from $67.7 million in the fiscal 2008 first quarter. Notably, VeriFone said it recently signed multilane-terminal contracts for such retailers as Safeway Inc., Radio Shack Corp. and Limited Stores LLC during the quarter. But when comparing North America revenue with the $93.2 million generated during the fourth quarter of 2008, the 10% decrease points to fewer merchant activations, Bergeron said. "Many of the processors, acquirers and ISOs who serve these customers were motivated to reduce inventories, and we expect this to continue in the current quarter," he said. In Asia, first-quarter revenue grew 30.6%, to $20.5 million from $15.7 million. Revenue in Europe grew by 14.6%, to $66.1 million from $57.7 million. Latin America revenue, at $43.6 million, was down 2.2% from $44.6 million. Companies in Brazil and Mexico, VeriFone's two largest markets in Latin America, chose to cut back on capital expenditures and reuse terminals instead of buy new ones, Bergeron told analysts.
