CALGARY, Alberta -

Although the Calgary, Alberta-based company saw steeper net losses in the first quarter, Quorum Information Technologies expanded its dealership customer base during the period, as it installed 259 dealership rooftops in the opening quarter of the year.

The company also celebrated its 11th straight quarter of cash flow positive results.

Quorum president and chief executive officer Maury Marks said of the cash flow positive results: “These results are due to a well-managed cost structure and from attaining a critical mass of dealerships that generate significant higher margin recurring support revenues.”

Reporting its latest earnings results earlier this week, Quorum said it pulled in EBITDA of $126,000 during the first quarter, compared to $323,000 in the year-ago period. The company’s loss before taxes was at $37,000, against income of $154,000 a year earlier.

“The short-term decrease is largely due to the movement of some key roles within the company from one office to another. In each case, duplicate salaries and benefits expense was incurred as we trained the new employee while maintaining the salary of the former employee,” Marks explained.

“As well, during Q1 FY2012, the Company incurred marketing expenses from hosting the largest booth that Quorum has had since 2007 at the National Automobile Dealers Association conference,” he continued. “Additionally, the company incurred the cost of hosting a booth at the ‘by invitation only’ BMW conference.”

Meanwhile, Quorum said its net loss for the quarter was $52,000. A year ago, net loss came in at $48,000.

“The loss in Q1 FY2012 is due to a short-term increase in salaries and the costs associated with attendance at the NADA and BMW conferences,” said Marks.

Moving along, sales totaled $1.84 million, versus $1.91 million versus the year-ago period. The change in sales was attributed to the following, as listed by Marks:

—A decrease of $89,000 in net new revenue which was a result of completing six smaller installations in Q1 FY2012 as compared to six larger dealership installations in Q1 FY2011.

— An increase of $60,000 in recurring support revenue as a result from having 259 active dealership rooftops at the end of Q1 FY2012 versus 245 at the end of Q1 FY2011.

— A decrease in integration revenue of $41,000 due to a reduced number of GM integration projects.