Harris said its broadcast business segment saw a 25% drop in revenue in the most recent quarter compared to a year earlier, while revenue was down just a bit when compared to the prior quarter sequentially.
Fourth-quarter revenue in the Broadcast Communications segment was $130 million, compared with $174 million a year ago and $132 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2009.
Similarly, orders were down 29% from a year earlier. But Harris said orders actually were up 18% from the prior calendar quarter, to $127 million.
“Fourth quarter revenue declined in both U.S. and international markets and across the product lines compared with the prior-year quarter,” Harris stated. “Although significantly lower advertising revenue in the broadcast industry continued to postpone many capital investments, Harris continued to have success in deploying its One Solution for interoperable workflows that depend on IT-centric systems, integrated infrastructure and enterprise software.”
CEO Howard Lance said the company saw a “nice sequential rebound” in orders in the quarter in its three operating segments, which also include RF communications and government communications systems.
The broadcast sector summary did not mention television or radio, and Harris usually does not break out those numbers within its broadcast financials.
Broadcast Communications posted an operating loss in the quarter of $257 million, which includes non-cash, pre-tax charges for impairment of goodwill and intangible assets. Without that, it lost $2 million in the quarter.
The parent company reported revenue for Q4 of $1.29 billion, an increase of 4 percent compared to a year earlier. It said new orders booked in the quarter were flat compared to a year ago and up 22% from the prior quarter sequentially.
For its full fiscal year, Harris had revenue of $5 billion, a 9 percent increase.
