Black Box reports net loss of $100 million for fiscal year

Weakness in sales and demand for servicing the company’s legacy communication equipment helped drive struggling Black Box Corp. to a $100 million loss for the 12 months ending March 31, according to financials released Monday.

The tide of red ink in the fiscal year compares to a loss of just $7.1 million for the previous year, the Washington Countybased communications and information technology equipment company reported. Moreover, the sales weakness in the product line is expected to continue for the foreseeable future.

Revenue during the period slipped 9.5 percent to $774.6 million from $855.7 million a year ago — down 22 percent since 2015 — as the diluted per share loss for the 12 months was $6.64 compared to a loss of 47 cents per share a year ago.

But the company, which notified investors about a potential bankruptcy filing July 2, has breathing room in the form of an amended credit agreement and $10 million loan from PNC Bank. In addition, president and CEO Joel Trammell expressed confidence the company would sell its federal information technology business by the end of August as required by the credit amendment.

“We need capital to pay down debt,” Mr. Trammell said in a conference call with investors Monday. He declined to say whether other parts of the company were being considered for sale.

Black Box announced July 6 that it has received a $10 million contract for data center infrastructure work in Ohio, which the company said could turn into a $300 million job. Although Black Box did not identify the company awarding the contract, the location of the work and other similarities suggested that it was social media giant Facebook’s project in New Albany.

Mr. Trammell soft-pedaled the “going concern” filing that the company made with the Securities and Exchange Commission July 2, which raised the prospect of bankruptcy. He said the company was on its way to recovery.

“Just because something is there doesn’t mean it might occur,” he said about the SEC filing. “I believe we are well on our way to addressing our financial challenges.”

Black Box shares were trading at $1.74 midafternoon Monday, down 54 cents.