A difficult second half sent Creative Technology's full-year net loss from US$3.8 million (S$5 million) last year to US$17.6 million in the 12 months to June 30.

Revenue rose 11 per cent to US$61.2 million.

The home-grown audio firm sank into the red in the second half with a net loss of US$9.1 million, compared with a net profit of US$7.2 million a year earlier. This was mainly due to other losses of US$1.1 million for the second half versus other gains of US$17.7 million for same period last year, the mainboard-listed company said on Thursday night.

Other losses for the second half this year were mainly due to fair-value hits on financial assets, while other gains for the same period last year were mainly attributable to US$17.9 million received from the settlement of patent lawsuits.

These were partially offset by fair value losses on financial assets, Creative said.

Loss per share stood at US$0.13 for the half-year compared with earnings per share of US$0.10 in the preceding year.

Second-half revenue rose 17 per cent to US$29.9 million due to an increase in sales from new products.

No dividend was declared for the half-year, unchanged from a year ago.

Creative shares closed down 5.8 per cent to $2.58 yesterday.

THE BUSINESS TIMES