WALTHAM, Mass., May 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Lionbridge Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: LIOX) today announced financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2009.

Financial and business highlights for the first quarter include:

-- Revenue of $88.4 million, a decrease of 15.5% sequentially from the

fourth quarter ended December 31, 2008, reflecting project delays from

certain clients. Revenue decreased by 24.5% from the first quarter of

2008, principally as a result of project delays from certain clients and

the weaker Euro as compared to the US Dollar. On a constant currency

basis, revenue declined 19.5% from the prior year's Q1.

-- GAAP net loss for the quarter was $5.1 million or ($0.09) per share

based on 55.9 million weighted average common shares outstanding.

Despite the $28.6 million decrease in revenue year-on-year, the

Company's GAAP net loss increased by only $641,000 as compared to a

first quarter of 2008, due to cost management and a more favorable

currency environment.

-- Operating expenses, excluding cost of sales, decreased by $1.7 million

sequentially from the fourth quarter of 2008, excluding the Q4 goodwill

impairment charge. Operating expenses excluding cost of sales decreased

by $5.4 million year-on-year compared to the first quarter of 2008, due

to cost management and a more favorable currency environment.

-- The Company paid down $14.0 million of its debt during the quarter. The

Company's net debt is $21.8 million, a year-on-year decrease of

$24.2 million from the quarter ended March 31, 2008.

-- During the quarter, the Company announced six new, large client

programs. Since that announcement, Lionbridge has secured a number of

additional multi-million dollar new client programs, including a

contract with a large PC manufacturer, a new program with a global

pharmaceutical services company and a master services agreement with a

leader in construction equipment. The Company expects these programs

will ramp over the next several quarters.

-- During the quarter, the Company also announced restructuring initiatives

that are expected to generate $18-20 million in annualized cost savings.

The Company provided its outlook for the second quarter of 2009 with estimated revenue of $96 to $101 million, an expected sequential quarter improvement of 9-14%. For the full year 2009 the Company expects revenue of $385-$400 million and restructuring charges of $5-10 million. The Company currently expects to be profitable excluding restructuring related expenses and to generate positive cash flow from operations for the second quarter and for the full year 2009.

"The well-publicized cost management from our large accounts in the early part of the quarter negatively impacted our revenue. However, late in the quarter, we saw renewed customer activity and corresponding improvements in margin and profits. This reflects the resilience of our model. As we mentioned during our last earnings call, customers can delay programs but they eventually have to spend in order to capture revenue in international markets," said Rory Cowan, CEO, Lionbridge. "This strengthening revenue environment seems to be continuing into the second quarter. In addition, we continue to experience strong liquidity as we pay down our debt and manage our expenses. As a result, we expect strong sequential profit expansion excluding restructuring expenses and positive cash flow in the second quarter and beyond."

Lionbridge will host a conference call today at 9:00 am regarding the content of this release as well as the Company's overall outlook going forward and other matters. The conference call will be carried live on the Internet. Instructions for listening to the call over the Internet are available on the Investor's page of the Lionbridge web site at www.lionbridge.com/webcast/may5.