ATI Medical Blames Loss on Failed Merger Bid

ATI Medical said it lost $299,819 in its fourth quarter, largely because of expenses related to a failed merger proposal.

ATI, which rents medical equipment to hospitals and the entertainment industry, said the loss for the quarter that ended July 31 compared with net income of $53,971, or a penny a share, a year earlier. ATI’s fourth-quarter revenue jumped 81% to $7.3 million from $4 million.

ATI blamed the loss mostly on one-time costs related to a merger agreement with SMI that was later dropped. Privately held SMI, which rents specialty hospital beds, originally was to be acquired by ATI, but later the companies proposed a marketing agreement whereby ATI would buy beds from SMI for its rental business.

Despite the loss, ATI’s full fiscal-year profit rose 39% to $571,146, or 11 cents a share, from $410,718, or 8 cents a share, the previous year. Annual revenue more than doubled to $25.8 million from $12.6 million.