Hot stock: Creative down 12% after net loss widens

SHARES in Creative Technology shed more than 12 per cent in early morning trading on Friday, after the company on Thursday night announced that it had sunk deeper into the red for its second quarter.

As at 10am, the counter was trading at S$4.84 apiece, down 12.3 per cent, or S$0.68, with 836,000 shares exchanging hands.

For the three months ended Dec 31, the group widened its net loss to US$4.9 million from a net loss of US$4.2 million in the year-ago period.

Loss per share stood at seven Singapore cents, versus six Singapore cents last year.

No dividend was declared for the quarter.

Meanwhile, turnover fell 22 per cent to US$16.2 million due to "uncertain and difficult market conditions" which affected sales, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Creative also noted that it expects no significant change in the market conditions, and that the overall market for the group's products remains challenging.

Revenue is expected to be lower in this non-holiday season quarter, and Creative expects to report an operating loss. It added that revenue contribution from its Super X-Fi products is not expected to be significant to the group's overall revenue for the quarter.

In February, wholly-owned subsidiary ZiiLabs Inc settled certain patent infringement lawsuits filed in the US.

"The settlement sum of US$17.9 million will be recognised by the group as other income in the current quarter. This will offset the operating loss and is expected to result in a net profit for the current quarter," Creative said.