Chyron Posts Increased Sales and Loss for 4Q

MELVILLE, N.Y.: Chyron sales revenues were up for the fourth quarter, both sequentially and year-over-year. The TV graphics specialist posted revenues of $7.2 million for the quarter ending Dec. 31, up 7 percent over last year and 13 percent over 3Q09. Net loss was $312,000, compared to $243,000 a year ago and $800,000 for 3Q09. Services, inclusive of the Web-based Axis graphics platform, contributed $1.2 million to revenues, up 14 percent over 4Q08.

Operating expenses were nearly $5 million compared to $5.1 million a year earlier. Research and development spending increased 9 percent to $1.6 million in good part due to costs related to the cloud-computed Axis graphics service. Chyron realized net savings of around $400,000 from layoffs and pay cuts imposed in the third quarter.

For the full year, Chyron posted revenues of $25.6 million, down 25 percent from 2008. Net loss was $3.1 million compared to a profit of $17.8 million for 2008, which included a tax benefit of $16.6 million. Services contributed $4.8 million in 2009, up 30 percent from 2008. Product revenues were $20.8 million, down 32 percent.

Chyron chief Michael Wellesley-Wesley said, “Many of our customers, we believe, continued to contain spending due to global economic conditions during 2009... Our focus on the cloud helped to keep revenue from even steeper erosion during the recession of 2009.... We believe that this is key because we are working to reinvent our core business by transitioning from a products company to a services company, specifically to a cloud services company.

Chyron (NASDAQ: CHYR) finished 2009 with $5.2 million in cash, down just $100,000 from the first of the year. Shares have increased about 5 percent year to date to $2.18.

In a separate item, Chyron announced that Susan Clark-Johnson had joined the board of directors. Clark-Johnson is executive director of the Morrison Institute for Public Policy at Arizona State University. She retired as president of the Gannett Newspaper Division in May, 2008 after 41 years in a variety of news and executive leadership roles with the company.