AsiaInfo's (ASIA) first quarter results for the period ended March 31, 2007 surpassed previous guidance and accumulated net income of US$6.4 million.

"Healthy growth in our core telecom software solution business led to guidance-beating earnings in the first quarter," said Steve Zhang, AsiaInfo's president and CEO. "We saw strong uptake of our industry leading BOSS and BI software and we continued to develop innovative solutions that help telecom operators introduce new services and differentiate their offerings."

Net revenue for the first quarter of 2007 was US$23.5 million, an increase of 25% year-over-year, and a decrease of 7% sequentially.

Net income from continuing operations for the first quarter of 2007 was US$5.0 million, or US$0.12 per basic share. This compares to US$0.1 million in the year-ago period, and US$1.9 million or US$0.05 per basic share in the previous quarter. Net income from continuing operations included US$2.7 million other operating income. This income relates to a Settlement Agreement that AsiaInfo entered into with Lenovo Group Limited to resolve certain matters arising out of the Acquisition Agreement dated July 27, 2004 and an Escrow Agreement dated October 19, 2004 between the company and Lenovo.

Gross revenue for the first quarter of 2007 was US$30.1 million, 13% higher than the year ago period and down 6% sequentially. Gross margins were 43% in the first quarter of 2007 compared to 36% in the year-ago period and 42% in the previous quarter.

Total operating expenses for the first quarter of 2007 were US$12.1 million, an increase of 17% year-over-year and a 1% decrease sequentially. Lenovo-AsiaInfo contributed 21% to total operating expenses before corporate general and administrative charges for the first quarter of 2007. Of the total operating expenses, R&D expenses for the first quarter of 2007 were US$4.1 million, an increase of 28% from the year-ago period and 10% from the previous quarter.

In the first quarter, AsiaInfo recorded a total net income of US$6.4 million. This is compared to net income of US$0.4 million in the year-ago period and US$2.1 million in the previous quarter, inclusive of the impact of discontinued operations during those periods.

As of March 31, 2007, AsiaInfo had total cash and cash equivalents including restricted cash and short-term investment of US$166.3 million, an increase of approximately US$3.2 million from December 31, 2006.