TouchStone Software Reports $1.6-Million Loss

TouchStone Software Corp. posted a net loss of $1.6 million, or 26 cents a share, for 1995, contrasted with net income of $800,075, or 14 cents a share, for 1994. The company attributed the yearly loss primarily to reserves of $3.1 million set up in the second half of the year to offset product returns.

Revenue rose 31% to $9.4 million from $7.2 million.

TouchStone officials have said the company was stung by unexpectedly soft demand for the company’s upgrade kits for Windows 95, the Microsoft operating system released last August. TouchStone’s WIN ’95 Advisor helps computer users prepare their machines for installation of Windows 95, and the company shipped far more copies of the program than retailers could sell.

For the fourth quarter, TouchStone reported a net loss of nearly $3 million, or 40 cents a share, contrasted to a profit of $499,622, or 8 cents a share, for the fourth quarter a year earlier. Product sales totaled $1.6 million, but because of a $2-million reserve for product returns, the company reported a revenue loss of $342,345. Revenue a year ago was $2.9 million.