Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/1998/10/14/seagate_wouldhavebeens_mar_q1_results/

Seagate wouldhavebeens mar Q1 results

Wouldhavebeen a profit, honest guv

By Drew Cullen

Posted in On-Prem, 14th October 1998 13:51 GMT

Seagate has taken a $63 million bath on currency holdings in the Thai baht and the Malaysian ringitt. The so-called "market to market adjustment" is one of an awful lot of would have beens in Seagate's Q1. Other wouldhavebeens include: $77 million to cover an amendment to the October 1997 purchase agreement for Quinta; and $7 million in R&D write-offs and tax charges connected to the acquisition of Eastman Software's storage management group. Tallied up, the wouldhavebeens plunge Seagate into a net loss of $30 million on sales of $1.553 billion (Q1 1997:$240 million losses on $1,896 million revenues). Without these charges, Seagate's net profit for the quarter would have been $46 million. Next quarter, the market can look forward to another wouldhavebeen, a write-off connected with Seagate's decision announced last week to withdraw from the manufacture of semiconductors for hard drives. It says it will close the Livingston, Scotland plant if it fails to find the buyer. ®