XATA upbeat despite losses

For the first nine months of 2002, Minneapolis-based XATA lost $3 million on sales of $10.3 million, compared to losses of $1.6 million on sales of $10.2 million in the same fiscal period in 2001. In XATA's third fiscal quarter, it lost $1.8 million on sales of $2.7 million, compared to losses of $1.4 million on sales of $3.7 million in the same period last year.

President & CEO Craig Fawcett said overall technology spending remains depressed throughout the economy, but that many transportation business indicators are becoming more positive. That makes him optimistic going forward that XATA's sales and profits will improve.

"We have invested over $1.6 million in the development of new products in the first nine months of this fiscal year and we expect growth in our core business to resume over the next several quarters," Fawcett said. "Our target markets comprise a half-million vehicles that we believe will adopt onboard information technology over the coming years. If our assumptions are accurate, this translates to a market opportunity of over $100 million annually."