James Skippen, CEO of Wi-LAN at his Ottawa office in 2007.Jonathan Hayward/For The Globe and Mail
Patent licensing company Wi-LAN Inc . rebounded to a second-quarter profit on Thursday as it booked a 137 per cent increase in revenue and a significant decline in litigation expenses.
The Ottawa-based technology patent company reported higher second-quarter net earnings of US$10.3 million, or eight cents per share for the period ended June 30. That compared with a net loss of $5.6 million, or five cents per share in the year-ago period.
Revenue in the three-month period was $27.4 million, up from $11.6 million. The company is moving to diversify its customer base, and during the second quarter its top ten licensees accounted for 79 per cent of its royalty revenue, down from 93 per cent a year ago.
Meanwhile, the company's litigation expenses fell to $2.3 million during the quarter, down from $6.6 million a year earlier, as the company entered into several settlements with big name tech firms during the first quarter.
Wi-LAN primarily collects licensing fees from companies that use technologies covered by its portfolio of patents. It has a portfolio of intellectual property that it has licensed to more than 250 companies worldwide, for use in a wide variety of communications products.
During the quarter the company signed a new licence agreement with Cisco Systems Inc. — its first licence renewal.
It also signed two new licensing partnerships that give it access to large new markets in the remote access and location-based advertising sectors, and acquired a portfolio of mobile communications patents.
"Wi-LAN delivered very solid financial results in the second quarter of fiscal 2011," said Jim Skippen, chairman and CEO.
"New license agreements signed earlier this year contributed to record revenues and significantly reduced litigation expenses in the second quarter."
Shares in the company fell 2.6 per cent or 21 cents to $7.94 each Thursday on the Toronto Stock Exchange.