Osicom’s Quarterly Loss Sends Shares Tumbling

Telecom networking company Osicom Technologies saw its shares plunge $16.13 to $47.88 on Nasdaq on Thursday as investors appeared stunned by the size of the company’s loss in its latest quarter.

Santa Monica-based Osicom said it lost $1.15 a share in the quarter ended April 30, compared with a loss from continuing operations of 15 cents a share a year earlier.

The company said sales from continuing operations were $10 million in the latest quarter versus $13 million a year earlier.

The net loss for the quarter amounted to $12.8 million, or $2.8 million more than sales.

The company said the loss, in part, reflected an expansion of staff at its Sorrento Networks unit to 206 people from 80 a year earlier.

Earlier this week, Osicom said its chief executive, Par Chadha, would resign in July, though he would remain as a consultant.

Osicom’s stock, caught up in the broad tech rally earlier this year, had traded as high as $149.75 in March.