American Bio Medica Corp. reported lower sales, and a bigger net loss, for the fourth quarter.
The Kinderhook, N.Y. company, which makes drug-testing kits, had a net loss of $672,000, or 3 cents a share, for the three months ended Dec. 31. This compares to a net loss of $28,000, or less than a penny a share, a year earlier.
Sales for the quarter totaled $2.3 million, down from $3.3 million in the year-ago period.
"Sales in the fourth quarter of 2008 suffered greatly, especially in December of 2008, as a result of the overall condition of the global economy," said Stan Cipkowski, CEO of American Bio Medica. "More specifically, sales in our national account division, which sells primarily to the workplace market and historically sees year over year growth, declined as new and existing employment levels continued to be negatively impacted. In addition, budget cuts and price pressure continue to negatively affect our government sales division. On a brighter note, we have continued to see growth in sales outside of the United States, especially in Latin America."
For all of 2008, American Bio Medica (Nasdaq: ABMC) reported a net loss of $850,000, or 4 cents a share, on sales of $12.6 million. This compares to a loss of $990,000, or 5 cents a share, in 2007.
