Protection One, a top security monitoring firm, reported third quarter results today, and revenues were slightly up over the same period in 2005.
Protection One's CEO Richard Ginsburg said that the company had its fourth consecutive quarter of recurring monthly revenue (RMR) growth, despite what he called "the typically challenging move season."
Ginsburg said the company had made progress with increasing commercial monitoring accounts. During the quarter, the company also deepened its relationship with long-term partner BellSouth. The two companies have arranged a partnership such that BellSouth will be able to sell bundled communications and security services to the real estate development community. The program is known as BellSouth's "Community Technologies" unit.
Despite the seeming "progress", the quarter still reflected a net loss for Protection One, with a loss of $3.5 million that equaled a loss of $.19 per share. In the same quarter 2005, the company also saw a loss, though it was significantly less at $2.2 million ($.12 per share).
Despite the negative news, the company's recurring monthly revenue held strong at $19.9 million for the quarter, slightly up for Q3 2005. Attrition rates were slightly up, with a net retail customer attrition rate moving from 10.9 percent in Q3 2005 to 11.4 percent in Q3 2006. For the Network Multifamily reporting unit, attrition increased from 7.1 percent (Q3 2005) to 12.6 percent. That number excluded the impact of Hurricane Katrina.
The company held a conference call to discuss the results on Friday morning.
