Harris Corp. plans more cost-cutting moves in coming months to improve the performance of its broadcast communications business, though it didn’t specify what they would be.
The company summarized its latest financial numbers. Broadcast revenue in Q3 was down about 7% compared to a year earlier, to $123 million, though this was up about 5 percent compared to the second quarter of this year. Harris Broadcast posted an operating loss in the quarter of $5 million, compared with operating income of $2 million a year earlier and an operating loss of $5 million in the second quarter. Orders were $130 million, “significantly higher” than a year ago but “somewhat lower” than Q2.
“Operating performance for the segment is being impacted by a still relatively weak U.S. broadcaster market and continued investment to pursue opportunities in the international and new media markets,” the company stated.
“Additional cost-reduction actions will be implemented in the fourth quarter, which are expected to improve operating performance and allow continued investment in opportunity rich international and new media markets.”
Harris said the pace of broadcast orders “suggest that the market is bottoming and showing some signs of improvement. In the international arena, opportunities are significant, but projects have longer lead times and start-up phases.” Its radio product lines are part of the broadcast segment.
Notable orders in the third quarter at Harris included a $12 million order from Cox Broadcasting for a traffic and billing system, a $4 million order from Abu Dhabi Media Co. for a high-definition production and playout center in the Middle East and a $4 million order from the country of Rwanda for a DVB-T standard transmission system.
The parent company, Harris Corp., said revenue for the third quarter was $1.33 billion. It said earnings in the third quarter increased 25 percent, helped most by its RF Communications and Government Communications Systems businesses.
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