Lindsey Morden U.S., Canadian operations drag Q1 results down

North American operations did little to boost the fortunes of adjuster Lindsey Morden Group Inc. (TSX: LM). For the first quarter 2003, the company reports a net loss of $1.99 million, and says reduced revenue from U.S. and Canadian operations dragged down overall results. Although this is still a significant improvement over the loss of $7.94 million reported for the first quarter 2002, that figure was impacted by a one-time expense of $9.9 million due to legal settlement expenses.The net loss translates to a loss per share of $0.14 for the most recent period, against $0.56 for the same period in 2002.Revenue was up for Q1 2003 to $111.12 million (Q1 2002: $109.89 million), but operating costs were also up, to $109.28 million from $106.82 million during the same comparitive period.The company reports operating earnings were up for the U.K. and European operations during the first quarter of this year, despite the overall result being down to $1.84 million from operating earnings of $3.07 million in first quarter 2002.Free cash flow (cash flow less net capital expenditures) was in the negative $8.09 million ($0.59 per share), versus negative cash flow of $668,000 ($0.05 per share) a year earlier.