Milwaukee-based Koss Corp., the high-fidelity headphone manufacturer, reported a fiscal 2015 first quarter net loss of $94,998, or a 1 cent loss per share, compared with net income of $79,402, or 1 cent per share, in the first quarter of 2014.
Revenue was $5.5 million, down from $6.8 million in the same period a year ago.
Koss reported a 2014 net loss of $5.6 million and 2014 revenue of $23.8 million, down 33 percent from 2013. The company, which recently suspended operations in Mexico because of low demand, attributed its continued earnings slump to lower European sales.
“Sales, especially in Europe, remain soft. We have begun to see the full impact of our cost reduction initiatives in the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2014,” said Michael Koss, president and chief executive officer. “Sales in Europe were off approximately $1 million with Ukraine and Czech Republic accounting for most of this sales decline compared to the same quarter last year. U.S. sales changes were impacted by a large promotional load-in order with a customer in last year’s first quarter. When adjusted for that load-in sale, U.S. sales were actually higher this quarter as compared to last year.”
Koss continued, “While we are certainly disappointed with recent sales figures, especially in the export markets, we have taken actions to significantly reduce our costs and conserve cash. These cost reductions included suspending our Mexico operations and curtailing the STRIVA product line development. There were also many other actions that helped reduce selling, general and administrative expenses by almost $1 million from last year’s levels.”
The company determined that based on the financial results, it would not declare a dividend for the quarter. Koss will determine whether to declare and the amount of any future dividends on a quarter-by-quarter basis.
