CALGARY, Alberta -

Thanks to efforts made to trim costs and interest expense, Calgary, Alberta-based Quorum Information Technologies saw a significant lift in its pre-tax net income during the first quarter of fiscal 2011 after recording a loss in the same period a year ago.

Specifically, Quorum pulled in $102,000 in net income before taxes during the period, up from the $35,000 pre-tax loss in the first quarter of 2010.

“The increase was due to a continued effort to reduce the corporation’s cost structure and reduced interest expense. Management continues to optimize all business processes in the organization with the goal of continually reducing our cost structure. Interest was reduced due to the early repayment of the corporation’s 12-percent secured convertible debenture on Dec. 15, 2010,” management explained.

Because of a $202,000 non-cash future income tax expense, Quorum posted a net loss after taxes of $100,000. A year ago, it was a loss of $28,000.

Meanwhile, EBITDA was at $323,000, compared to $297,000 in the year-ago period.

Sales dropped to $1.912 million, down 2 percent from the $1.946 million recorded in the first quarter of 2010. Gross profits came in at $1.065 million, versus $1.076 million in the prior-year period.

Officials boiled the sales change down to the following factors:

—Net new revenue falling $119,000 because of installations dropping from 10 to six on a year-over-year basis.
—Recurring support revenue climbing $166,000 due to total active dealership rooftops at the end of the first quarter standing at 245, up from 221 a year ago.
—Integration revenue falling $80,000 because of fewer GM integration projects.

Looking forward, management summed it up as follows: "With a stronger balance sheet, an incredible product, excellent implementations and support services, exceptional staff and customers and seven consecutive quarters of cash flow positive operations, the corporation is well positioned to take advantage of the challenging automotive market. Our primary focus for 2011 is to grow our quarterly sales and implementation rates.”