BEDFORD, Mass.-iRobot ended its fiscal year on Dec. 31 with a fourth-quarter net loss of $5.9 million, as opposed to net income in last year’s fourth quarter of $10.6 million.
The quarter’s performance brought iRobot’s net income for the fiscal year to $17.3 million, down 57 percent from the prior year. The company’s revenues for the quarter fell 23 percent to $100.7 million, and for the year declined 6.3 percent to $436.2 million.
The drops on both the top and bottom lines occurred in spite of a 28 percent gain in home-robot sales during the fiscal year. Colin Angle, iRobot’s chairman and CEO, said the company’s numbers were hurt by an anticipated decline in revenue from the defense and security sector.
Net profit also felt the effects of a gain in selling, general and administrative expenses of 22.5 percent in dollars and 1,852 basis points as a percentage of sales, to 49.9 percent. In addition, gross margin fell 182 basis points to 41.1 percent.
Angle described last year as “a transformational year for our business.” He said the company’s total business will be driven by the home-robot sector in the years to come, with an expected gain of 20 percent in home sales for 2013, which means that the home area will account for about 90 percent of the company’s revenues. “In addition,” he said, “we have an emerging remote presence business and have stabilized our defense business.”