NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J., Feb. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Arbinet-thexchange, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARBX), a leading provider of innovative voice and IP solutions for buying and selling telecommunications capacity, today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2008.
Fourth quarter 2008 fee revenues were $10.4 million, a 12.0% decrease from the third quarter 2008 and a 16.0% decrease from the fourth quarter 2007 fee revenues of $12.4 million. A total of 3.0 billion minutes were bought and sold on Arbinet's platform in the fourth quarter 2008, compared to 3.7 billion minutes in the fourth quarter 2007. Arbinet completed 342.6 million calls during the fourth quarter 2008, compared to 469.7 million calls in the fourth quarter 2007.
Fourth quarter 2008 loss from operations was ($4.6) million, compared to a loss from operations of ($0.7) million in the fourth quarter 2007. Fourth quarter 2008 results included a non-cash charge of $3.0 million to record the impairment of goodwill and other intangible assets. This charge resulted from goodwill impairment testing that was performed at the end of the fourth quarter due to the decline in the Company's stock price, and the resulting reduction in the Company's market capitalization below its book value.
The Company's net loss from continuing operations in the fourth quarter was ($9.0) million or ($0.39) per diluted share, compared to a net loss from continuing operations of ($0.4) million or ($0.02) per diluted share in the fourth quarter 2007. In addition to the impairment charge, fourth quarter 2008 results included a non-cash foreign currency exchange loss of ($4.6) million or ($0.20) per diluted share, representing the impact of currency fluctuations on U.S. denominated obligations of the Company's U.K. subsidiary.
For the full year, 2008 fee revenues were $48.4 million, a decrease of 3.4% from 2007 fee revenues of $50.1 million. A total of 13.2 billion minutes were bought and sold on Arbinet's exchange in 2008, down from 14.4 billion in 2007, representing a year-over-year decrease of 8.3%. The Company reported a net loss from continuing operations of ($12.7) million or ($0.53) per diluted share for 2008, compared with a net loss from continuing operations of ($1.7) million or ($0.07) per diluted share in 2007.
In commenting on the Company's fourth quarter and full year results, Shawn O'Donnell, President and Chief Executive Officer of Arbinet stated, 'Recognizing the challenges facing the U.S. and world economies, during the second half of 2008 we took specific actions to reduce our cost structure and maximize cash by reducing headcount, controlling discretionary spending and limiting capital expenditures. Additionally, in the fourth quarter we completed our internal efforts to improve the quality of call termination on the exchange and are very pleased with the outcome. While the measures we took to create a leaner exchange may have negatively affected our volumes in the short-term, we remain positive about the long-term prospects for our Company and believe that Arbinet's business model is well-positioned for success moving forward.'
Quarterly Conference Call
Arbinet will host a conference call to discuss its fourth quarter and full year 2008 results at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time today.
The dial-in number for the live audio call beginning at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time is 888-562-3654 or 973-582-2703 for international callers; the passcode is 87110891. A live web cast of the conference call will be available on Arbinet's web site at http://www.arbinet.com.
A replay of the call will be available from 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time on February 26, 2009 through midnight on March 5, 2009 at http://www.arbinet.com and by telephone at 800-642-1687, or 706-645-9291 for international callers; the passcode is 87110891.
About Arbinet
Arbinet is a leading provider of innovative voice and IP solutions empowering communications companies to create the most efficient and valuable global interconnections. Arbinet offers the greatest flexibility in global scale, platform intelligence, and managed solutions to achieve commercial efficiency and interconnection simplicity.
Arbinet manages business relationships, back office operations and call routing for Members who route through Arbinet approximately 2% of the world's international voice traffic to over 1,300 destinations worldwide. Arbinet Members include fixed line, mobile, wholesale and VoIP carriers as well as calling card, ISPs, ASPs and content providers around the world who buy and sell voice and IP telecommunications capacity.
