Vitesse Reports First Quarter Fiscal Year 2010 Results

CAMARILLO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Vitesse Semiconductor Corporation (Pink Sheets: VTSS), a leading provider of advanced IC solutions for Carrier and Enterprise networks, today reported its financial results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2010, ended December 31, 2009.

“First quarter revenue was up 6% compared to the previous quarter, reflecting improved market conditions. Our core revenue, consisting of Carrier and Enterprise products, in the first quarter increased approximately 10% sequentially and 7% year-to-year”

First Quarter Operating and Financial Highlights

• Reported net revenues of $41.7 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2010, compared with $49.8 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2009.
• Reported a net loss of $33.9 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2010 compared with a net loss of $190.0 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2009.
• Obtained shareholder approval to execute a reverse stock split.

CEO Commentary

“First quarter revenue was up 6% compared to the previous quarter, reflecting improved market conditions. Our core revenue, consisting of Carrier and Enterprise products, in the first quarter increased approximately 10% sequentially and 7% year-to-year,” said Chris Gardner, CEO of Vitesse. “The cost cutting measures we implemented last year are working. We significantly narrowed our operating loss from the previous quarter. We are at the beginning of an ambitious new product cycle and continue to invest in R&D to support that. As revenues continue to grow, we expect to see additional operating leverage and improved financial results.”

First Quarter 2010 Financial Results Summary

Net revenues for the first quarter of fiscal year 2010 were $41.7 million, a decrease of 16.4% compared with $49.8 million reported for the first quarter of fiscal year 2009, and an increase of 6.3% compared with $39.2 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2009. Product revenues were $41.6 million, a 7.1% decrease from the same quarter in 2009, and a 6.2% increase over $39.2 million reported for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2009. Intellectual Property revenues were $40,000, compared with $5.0 million in first quarter of fiscal year 2009. We did not have any Intellectual Property revenue in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2009.

Cost of revenues decreased $3.3 million to $19.1 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2010 compared with $22.4 million in the same quarter in 2009. Included in the $3.3 million decrease is a $0.9 million correction of an immaterial inventory error we identified in our financial statements as of and for the year ended September 30, 2009. The correction of the error in the current period is not anticipated to be material to the full fiscal year.

R&D expenses were $12.0 million for the first quarter of fiscal year 2010, compared with $11.6 million a year ago, an increase of $0.4 million or 3.3%. Selling, general and administrative expenses were $10.5 million for the first quarter of fiscal year 2010 compared with $10.4 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2009.

Loss from operations was $0.3 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2010, compared with an operating loss of $188.3 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2009. The Company’s first quarter 2010 net loss was $33.9 million, or $0.10 per share, compared with a net loss of $190.0 million, or $0.84 per share, in the first quarter of fiscal year 2009. First quarter 2010 results include a $21.6 million expense for extinguishment of debt related to the Company’s debt restructuring completed in October 2009 and the $0.9 million correction of an immaterial inventory error, as discussed above. First quarter 2009 results include a $191.4 million expense to write off goodwill and a $2.9 million gain on the sale of our Colorado building. Excluding these transactions, net loss in the first quarter of fiscal year 2010 would have been $13.2 million, or $0.04 per share, as compared to a net loss of $1.4 million, or $0.01 per share in the first quarter of fiscal year 2009.

Balance Sheet Overview

Cash and cash equivalents totaled $35.6 million at December 31, 2009, a decrease of $22.0 million from September 30, 2009. Inventory at December 31, 2009 totaled $19.4 million, an increase of $0.6 million from September 30, 2009.

First Quarter 2010 New Product Introductions

Vitesse introduced one new product in the first quarter of fiscal year 2010:

VSC8238-02: The performance leading VSC8238-02 EDC clock and data recovery (CDR) device is the newest member of the Company’s family of integrated circuits featuring Vitesse’s FlexEQ™ Electronic Dispersion Compensation (EDC) technology. It is the industry’s only solution to meet the challenges of transmitting and recovering 8G Fibre Channel data in lossy legacy blade server backplanes and host bus adapters (HBA). More information is available at: http://www.vitesse.com/products/product.php?number=VSC8238.

Outlook and Goals

Vitesse expects to see a continued industry recovery and resumed top line growth in 2010. As such, the Company remains committed to making investments in the first half of the year that will position it for growth in 2011 and beyond. In 2010, Vitesse plans to increase product introductions to an average of six per quarter from three per quarter in 2009 and to transition its California test facility to its subcontractors in Asia.

The Company reiterates its long-term operating targets which call for the following as a percentage of revenue: gross margin of 55% to 60%; R&D of 25% to 28%; SG&A of 11% to 14%; income from operations of 11% to 16%; and EBITDA of 17% to 22%. Further, the Company is targeting annual inventory turns of five times and accounts payable and accounts receivable in line with normal industry levels.

Conference Call Information

A conference call is scheduled for Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time/4:30 p.m. Eastern Time to discuss first quarter fiscal year 2010 results. To listen to the conference call via telephone, dial 866-393-5524 (U.S. toll-free) or 973-638-3372 (International) and provide the pass code 54811323. Participants should dial in at least 10 minutes prior to the start of the call. To listen via the Internet, the webcast can be accessed through the Vitesse corporate web site at www.vitesse.com.

The playback of the conference call will be available approximately two hours after the call concludes and will be accessible on the Vitesse corporate web site or by calling 800-642-1687 (U.S. toll-free) or 706-645-9291 (International) and entering the pass code 54811323. The audio replay will be available for seven days.

About Vitesse

Vitesse designs, develops and markets a diverse portfolio of high-performance, cost-competitive semiconductor solutions for Carrier and Enterprise networks worldwide. Engineering excellence and dedicated customer service distinguish Vitesse as an industry leader in high-performance Ethernet LAN, WAN, and RAN, Ethernet-over-SONET/SDH, Optical Transport (OTN), and best-in-class Signal Integrity and Physical Layer products for Ethernet, Fibre Channel, Serial Attached SCSI, InfiniBand®, Video, and PCI Express applications. Additional company and product information is available at www.vitesse.com.

Vitesse is a registered trademark and FlexEQ is a trademark in the United States and/or other jurisdictions of Vitesse Semiconductor Corporation. All other trademarks or registered trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective holders.

Cautions Regarding Forward Looking Statements:

All statements included or incorporated by reference in this release and the related conference call for analysts and investors, other than statements or characterizations of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements provide current expectations of future events based on certain assumptions and include any statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current facts. These forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations, estimates and projections about our business and industry, management’s beliefs, and certain assumptions made by us, all of which are subject to change. Forward-looking statements can often be identified by words such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “predicts,” and similar terms, and variations or negatives of these words. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and the Company’s actual results may differ significantly from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements.

VITESSE SEMICONDUCTOR CORPORATION
UNAUDITED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
	December 31,			September 30,
	2009			2009
	(in thousands, except share data)
ASSETS
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$	35,588		$	57,544
Accounts receivable, net		12,781			11,369
Inventory		19,393			18,809
Restricted cash		401			398
Prepaid expenses and other current assets		5,952			4,956
Total current assets		74,115			93,076
Property, plant and equipment, net		7,937			7,874
Other intangible assets, net		1,295			1,541
Other assets		4,286			3,077
	$	87,633		$	105,568
LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' DEFICIT
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	$	14,438		$	14,191
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities		12,217			10,887
Derivative liability		35,052			12,209
Deferred revenue		851			1,156
Current portion of debt and capital leases		162			5,236
Convertible subordinated debt		-			10,000
Total current liabilities		62,720			53,679
Other long-term liabilities		1,814			1,810
Long-term debt, net of discount		24,948			24,652
Convertible subordinated debt		40,638			86,700
Total liabilities		130,120			166,841
Preferred stock - Series B, $0.01 par value. 44,533 shares outstanding at December 31, 2009		1,113			-
Commitments and contingencies
Shareholders' deficit:
Preferred stock - Series B, $0.01 par value. 10,000,000 shares authorized; 726,253 shares outstanding at December 31, 2009		7			-
Common stock, $0.01 par value. 500,000,000 shares authorized; 403,841,802 and 230,905,580 shares outstanding at December 31, 2009 and September 30, 2009, respectively		4,043			2,314
Additional paid-in-capital		1,804,397			1,754,598
Accumulated deficit		(1,852,133	)		(1,818,271	)
Noncontrolling interest		86			86
Total shareholders' deficit		(43,600	)		(61,273	)
	$	87,633		$	105,568

VITESSE SEMICONDUCTOR CORPORATION
UNAUDITED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
	Three months ended
	December 31,
	2009			2008
	(in thousands, except per share data)
Product revenues	$	41,611		$	44,810
Intellectual property revenues		40			5,000
Revenues		41,651			49,810
Costs and expenses:
Cost of revenues		19,103			22,447
Engineering, research and development		11,959			11,581
Selling, general and administrative (including gain on sale of building of $2.9 million in fiscal 2009)		10,529			10,419
Accounting remediation & reconstruction expense & litigation costs		73			1,949
Goodwill impairment		-			191,418
Amortization of intangible assets		249			319
Costs and expenses		41,913			238,133
Loss from operations		(262	)		(188,323	)
Other (expense) income :
Interest expense, net		(10,220	)		(1,130	)
Loss on extinguishment of debt		(21,576	)		-
Other income, net		76			144
Other income (expense), net		(31,720	)		(986	)
Loss before income tax expense and noncontrolling interest in earnings of consolidated subsidiary		(31,982	)		(189,309	)
Income tax expense		1,878			650
Net loss		(33,860	)		(189,959	)
Less: net loss attributable to noncontrolling interest		-			(1	)
Fair value adjustment of Preferred Stock - Series B		126			-
Net loss available to common shareholders	$	(33,986	)	$	(189,958	)
Net loss per common share - basic and diluted
Net loss per share	$	(0.10	)	$	(0.84	)
Weighted average shares outstanding:
Basic and diluted		347,450			226,206