$161-Million Loss Posted by Apple

Apple Computer Inc. on Wednesday reported that it lost a worse-than-expected $161 million in its fiscal fourth quarter and disclosed another round of cost cuts intended to bolster its sagging fortunes.

Apple’s loss for the July-September quarter was $1.26 a share, compared with profit of $25 million, or 20 cents a share, in the same period last year.

Revenue fell 30% to $1.6 billion, from $2.3 billion. Sales were down 7% from the April-June quarter.

Apple said the quarter includes a $62-million charge to increase its restructuring reserves for possible layoffs and other costs and a $75-million write-off for its purchase of the Mac OS license from Power Computing Corp.

Apple Chief Financial Officer Fred Anderson declined to say whether he expects additional layoffs, but analysts said more layoffs are a distinct possibility.

Although Anderson said Apple expects to announce a chief executive by the end of the year, interim CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs hinted earlier this month that he might stay on as CEO.

Without the restructuring charges, Apple reported a loss of $24 million, or 19 cents a share, far higher than the 14-cents-a-share loss expected by Wall Street analysts.

Apple said its education business contributed more than $500 million in revenue during the quarter, and it saw improvement from the previous three months in both business and consumer sales in the U.S. But it was disappointed by sluggish demand overseas, particularly in Japan. Shares of Apple, which reported results after markets closed, rose $1.13 to close at $23.81 in Nasdaq trading.