Trimedyne Inc.: Suffering from a slump in...

Trimedyne Inc.: Suffering from a slump in worldwide sales of surgical lasers, the Irvine-based firm on Thursday reported a $544,000 loss for its first quarter and a 17% decrease in revenue.

Trimedyne said that its loss of $544,000, or 6 cents a share, for the quarter ending Dec. 31, was more than triple its loss of $149,000, or 2 cents a share, for the same quarter a year ago.

The company reported first-quarter revenue of $3.2 million, compared to revenue of $3.9 million for last year’s first quarter.

Trimedyne stock closed at $13 a share on the Nasdaq market, up 50 cents a share from Wednesday’s close.