Fast-growing ShoreTel admits parts shortages
Vendor says supply issues will have no material impact on business as it singles out the UK as one of its two best-performing markets
ShoreTel has admitted the Japanese disaster has led to some parts shortages as it praised the strength of its UK business.
The telephony vendor saw revenues for the three months to 31 March rise 39 per cent year on year to $51.6m, its fourth consecutive quarter of plus-30 per cent growth. GAAP net losses almost halved year on year to $2.4m, while non-GAAP profit hit $602,000.
On a Q3 conference call, a transcript of which can be found here, ShoreTel singled out Canada and the UK as its strongest-growing territories.
UK contact centre sales doubled sequentially, while a recently inked preferred provider partnership with Vodafone should also yield "significant revenue growth" in this country, ShoreTel said.
International revenues represented 12 per cent of the US-based firm's total.
ShoreTel chief executive Peter Blackmore (pictured), said of the Vodafone relationship: "We were awarded the status after competing for it against all our main competitors. And we are pleased that ShoreTel's unique value proposition was acknowledged by Vodafone with this new relationship."
Meanwhile, chief financial officer Mike Healy said ShoreTel had examined its supply chain closely in the wake of the Japanese disaster.
Several individual phone parts may have issues, although Healy said the firm has an adequate supply of inventory until September.
"For those individual phone parts affected, we are using other vendors to fill the supply void in making spot purchases," he said. "I do not expect these actions to have a material negative impact on our gross margin."
ShoreTel ended the quarter with 184 quota-carrying salespeople and said its sales headcount is on course to rise 50 per cent for the year by the end of the June quarter.
Blackmore, who is only four months into the job, claimed the vendor has also made great strides in brand awareness, following investment in that area.
A survey of IT and business decision makers in 2009 showed ShoreTel was blighted with fairly low awareness, both aided and unaided, he said.
"We recently performed this survey again to track our progress, and we're pleased to see that our aided and unaided awareness nearly doubled over the past four quarters – a clear testament to the fact that our investment in branding is paying off," Blackmore said.
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