Palm Reports Bigger Loss Amid Declining Revenue By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: September 17, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/18/technology/companies/18device.html?hpw SUNNYVALE, Calif. (AP) â The smartphone maker Palm posted a wider loss for its first quarter on Thursday as revenue dropped, but adjusted earnings and sales topped Wall Streetâs expectations. For the three months ended Aug. 28, the company posted a loss after paying preferred dividends of $164.5 million, or $1.17 a share, compared with a loss of $41.9 million, or 39 cents a share, in the period a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, the company posted a much smaller loss of $13.6 million, or 10 cents a share, in the latest quarter. Revenue tumbled to $68 million from $366.9 million. But adjusted sales, which exclude deferred revenue and cost of sales from the Pre smartphone, totaled $360.7 million. Analysts on average were expecting a loss, excluding items, of 24 cents a share on adjusted sales of $297.7 million, according to a poll by Thomson Reuters. âWeâre making significant progress with Palmâs transformation, and our culture of innovation is stronger than ever. Weâre launching more great Palm web OS products with more carriers, and turning our sights toward growth,â the chief executive, Jonathan Rubinstein, said in a statement. Palm shipped 823,000 smartphones during the quarter, down 30 percent year over year. But compared with the prior quarter, shipments more than doubled. Palm said it planned to offer about 16 million of its shares and use the proceeds for working capital and general corporate purposes. It also forecast second-quarter adjusted revenue of $240 million to $270 million and full-year revenue on the same basis of $1.6 billion to $1.8 billion.