Sun Microsystems reports $147 million quarter loss

Sun Microsystems, probably reporting its last quarterly report as an independent company, reported a $147 million loss in the fiscal fourth quarter as its planned acquisition by Software giant Oracle Corporation nears to a close. (See: Oracle trumps IBM, acquires Sun Microsystems for $7.4 billion)

Sun posted a net loss of $147 million, or 20 cents a share, in the fourth quarter ended 30 June compared with a profit of $88 million, or 11 cents per share, in the year-ago period.

Sales for the period fell by 31 per cent to $2.63 billion from $3.78 billion last year and revenue from server sales fell 36 per cent over last year to $1.1 billion. Revenue from support services fell 15 per cent to $886 million.

Last month, Sun had projected a loss of six cents to 16 cents a share, excluding items, on revenue of $2.58 billion to $2.68 billion.

For the full fiscal year, Santa Clara, California-based Sun lost $2.23 billion, compared to a $403 million profit last year.

Despite billions in sales - $13.3 billion over the last four quarters, the company has not been able to turn a consistent profit, losing $1.9 billion in the same period.