Challenging quarter
Sun Microsystems has announced its financial results for the quarter ending 30th March and they were below expectations.
It reported a net loss of $34 million ($0.04 per share) compared with net income of $67 million ($0.07 per share) in the same quarter a year ago.
“The U.S. economy presented Sun with significant challenges in the third quarter, masking our progress in developing nations and economies across the world,” said Jonathan Schwartz, CEO of Sun Microsystems.
“We continue to invest in the future created by open alternatives to proprietary technologies, best exemplified by the acquisition of MySQL. The world is moving to open source innovation, and Sun continues to lead that revolution.”
Reuters reported that Sun said it was planning to cut between 1,500 and 2,500 jobs from its total of 33,500, with US public sector, retail and telco sectors all buying less gear than it expected.
Among the factors contributing to the loss, Sun cited: “In the third quarter of fiscal 2008, the company recorded a $52 million dollar tax provision, as compared to a tax benefit of $3 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2007. Net loss for the third quarter included charges related to the acquisition of MySQL, which reduced earnings per share by approximately $0.04.”