Business
Westaim announces 2007 year-end results
CALGARY, Feb. 15 /CNW/ - The Westaim Corporation announced today that for the year ended December...
About this update from Westaim Corporation
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n\n\nCALGARY, Feb. 15 /CNW/ - The Westaim Corporation announced today that for\nthe year ended December 31, 2007, it recorded a net loss of $58.0 million, or\n62 cents per share, on revenues of $31.8 million compared to a net loss of\n$50.6 million, or 54 cents per share, on revenues of $27.6 million in the\nprevious year. For the three months ended December 31, 2007, the Company\nposted a net loss of $26.8 million, or 28 cents per share, compared to a net\nloss of $11.0 million, or 12 cents per share, in the same period in the\nprevious year.\n\n\nThe 2007 net loss includes significantly improved operating results at\nNucryst Pharmaceuticals Corp. due to lower R&D spending and to milestone\nrevenues from Smith & Nephew earned in the year; reduced operating costs at\niFire Technology Ltd.; gains on sale of real estate; and gains on the sale of\na non-core subsidiary. These improvements were offset in part by\nreorganization and severance costs related to operational changes in both\nWestaim and iFire that will reduce future annual operating costs; and by\nwrite-downs and realized losses incurred on the Company's investment in\nCanadian third-party asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP) totaling $5.1\nmillion.\n\n\nThe 2007 results also include a net loss from discontinued operations of\n$55.2 million compared to a net loss from discontinued operations of $37.7\nmillion in 2006. These losses, which relate to the Company's wholly owned\nsubsidiary iFire Technologies Ltd., include a write-down of capital assets of\n$22.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2007.\n\n\nAt December 31, 2007, Westaim had $31.0 million in consolidated cash and\nshort-term investments, compared to $62.5 million at December 31, 2006.\nWestaim's cash position, excluding cash and short-term investments held by its\n74.5 per cent owned affiliate NUCRYST Pharmaceuticals Corp., was $13.2\nmillion. In addition, Westaim held ABCP with a book value of $6.0 million.\n\n\n"Westaim is continuing to explore strategic alternatives," said Drew\nFitch, President & CEO of Westaim. "Late in 2007 we announced our intention to\nseek a buyer for the business or assets of iFire Technology and this process\nis still underway. We are continuing our effort to monetize non-core assets\nand early in 2008 we realized $4.5 million in proceeds from the sale o...