UTStarcom posts massive loss

UTStarcom posted a $402.7 million loss for Q3 05 as it wrote off an enormous share of its assets value and dealt with declining revenues and an ongoing SEC investigation. The massive loss prompted the company to accelerate its restructuring process and announce the lay-offs of 500 employees.

UTStarcom reported $635 million, down 6% from last year's third quarter. While slower sales contributed to its massive loss for the quarter, its majority was born by a $321.4 million charge related to impairment charges for overvalued assets, goodwill and other non-cash impairment expenses.

The vendor has been immersed in a restructuring effort since the first quarter as it cuts ties with older technologies used in its native China and tries to expands into global markets as well as pursue new businesses in China. Its goal is to reduce its working capital by $200 million and its operating expenses by $40 million (to about $140 million) per quarter.

Last month, UTStarcom revealed that it is the subject of an SEC inquiry into the company's financial disclosures in previous quarters. At that time the company also lowered its Q3 revenue projections from between $660 million and $680 million to between $620 million to $640 million, which the company easily hit last quarter. UTStarcom said the revenue shortfall was due to Softbank failing to make a $40 million payment for IPTV equipment that quarter.