Volt Information Sciences Inc. (NYSE MKT: VISI) reported net revenue fell 14.7% in its fiscal first quarter ended Jan. 31, but net loss narrowed.
The New York-based IT and engineering staffing and MSP provider also announced the sale of company-owned real estate in Orange and San Diego, Calif., generating aggregate net cash proceeds of $29 million.
Staffing Services segment revenue fell 14.5% from the year-ago quarter and included $1.5 million of restructuring costs.
Revenue by segment
Volt during the first quarter sold its Uruguayan staffing services business as part of an initiative to simplify its corporate structure and focus on its core staffing business. Volt is also selling Maintech, its IT infrastructure services business. The company reported it will select a potential buyer shortly and enter a non-binding letter of intent. If a transaction then proceeds with a potential buyer, the company would expect to complete a transaction by the end of the second quarter or sometime in the third quarter of fiscal 2016.
In conjunction with its asset divestiture strategy, Volt on March 4 completed a sale-leaseback transaction of its office properties in Orange, Calif. Volt received net cash proceeds of approximately $27 million from the sale of the property. Volt also sold a San Diego office facility for $2.1 million. Net proceeds to Volt, after transaction-related expenses and fees, totaled $2.0 million.
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“Our results in the first quarter reflect our ongoing efforts to stabilize the financial performance of Volt’s core staffing business and solidify our book of business with our customers,” said and CEO Michael Dean. “After normalizing for fewer work days during the fiscal first quarter, staffing revenue was down slightly on a sequential quarter basis. We also saw the initial benefit of the workforce reduction we announced early in the quarter as total selling, administrative and other operating costs declined 5% compared to the prior quarter. While much of the first quarter benefit from the lower headcount was offset by restructuring costs, this headcount reduction will contribute significantly to $10 million in anticipated cost savings during the full year.”
