Black Box reports $100 million loss for fiscal year

Black Box Corp. posted a $100.1 million net loss for the fiscal year ending March 31, the Cecil Township company said Monday in its fourth-quarter report. That compares with a $7.1 million loss for the same period last year.
Sales weakness was listed as a major factor for the bigger loss. The firm, a leading global technology solutions provider, is located in the Lawrence section of the township.
Revenues were $774.6 million, a 9.5 percent drop from $855.7 million a year earlier. The diluted per share loss was $6.64 for the 12 months, compared with a loss of 47 cents per share the previous year.
Things may be looking up for the company, however. Black Box announced last week it was awarded a $10 million contract to provide digital infrastructure, including 100 miles of fiber-optic cable, at a data center being built in Ohio. The company would not identify its partner or the location of the center, but said in a news release the partner is “the most well-known social media company in the world.”
That could be Facebook, which is building a huge, $750 million data center in New Albany in central Ohio. Black Box’s website lists several job openings in New Albany.
That data center is projected to begin operations in 2019.
Black Box said last week the $10 million contract “promises to be only the tip of the iceberg” in a five- to 10-year relationship with the social media firm. Black Box said the partnership could eventually result in the company gaining “$300 million or more.” That, the firm added, would be the largest deal in its 42-year history.
The company outlined its financial concerns June 29 in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company said it had about $24 million in cash and $155.7 million in borrowings outstanding, “which raises a substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a concern beyond” December 2018.
Joe Trammell, president and chief executive officer of Black Box, said in a statement: “I have spent the last few weeks visiting with customers and hearing about the critical and valued services we are providing. I have assured them as well as our vendors and employees that we have many work streams in process that are intended to restore the profitability and financial health of Black Box.”