Nera Q1 profit falls 33.8% on lower telecom sales

NERA Telecommunications said that first-quarter net profit dropped 33.8 per cent as telecom sales fell and payment solutions margins shrank.

Profit for the three months ended March 2015 was S$3 million, or 0.84 Singapore cent per share. Nera shares closed flat at 68.5 Singapore cents on Monday before the results were announced.

Revenue increased by 3.6 per cent to S$42.1 million despite telecom sales falling by 41.6 per cent to S$8.1 million. Payment solution revenue increased by 57.1 per cent to S$10.7 million, but the segment undertook a lower margin project that dragged overall gross profit margin down to 33.5 per cent from 38.2 per cent. Nera said that it accepted the "one-off" low margin project because of strategic reasons.