Apple Computer Inc has come up with year-end numbers that were slightly worse than Wall Street’s low expectations. The Street was looking for a fourth-quarter loss of $0.14 per share but, net of charges, the best Apple could do was a loss of $0.19. Including charges of $137m from the termination of Power Computing Corp’s Mac OS license and restructuring, the quarterly loss was $161m on revenue down 30% at $1.6bn, compared to net income of $25m – or $0.20 per share – a year ago. Gross margins held flat with Q3 at 20% but fell from 22% a year ago. On a positive note, the loss of $24m (net of charges) was a sequential improvement over a Q3 loss of $56m and operating expenses were down to $353m from $505m last year and $408m in Q3. Also, Apple says that Mac OS 8 sales have been moving at a record pace, covering 2 million seats to date. For the year, net loss came in at $1.0bn on revenue down 28% at $7.1bn, up from a loss of $816m last year. Operating loss for the year was down, however, at $1.07bn from $1.38bn last year. 1997 results include the $75m Power Computing charge as well as $217m in restructuring charges and the $375m bill from the Next Software Inc purchase. 1996 figures include $179m in restructuring costs. International revenues were 42% of the quarterly total and 50% of the year’s, down from 52% last year. Apple’s balance sheet shows cash and short-term investments of $1.46bn, down roughly 16% from year-ago levels.
