Westaim announces 2007 year-end results( CALGARY Feb. 15 / The Westaim Cor...),Health

CALGARY, Feb. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - The Westaim Corporation announced today that for the year ended December 31, 2007, it recorded a net loss of $58.0 million, or 62 cents per share, on revenues of $31.8 million compared to a net loss of $50.6 million, or 54 cents per share, on revenues of $27.6 million in the previous year. For the three months ended December 31, 2007, the Company posted a net loss of $26.8 million, or 28 cents per share, compared to a net loss of $11.0 million, or 12 cents per share, in the same period in the previous year.

The 2007 net loss includes significantly improved operating results at Nucryst Pharmaceuticals Corp. due to lower R&D spending and to milestone revenues from Smith & Nephew earned in the year; reduced operating costs at iFire Technology Ltd.; gains on sale of real estate; and gains on the sale of a non-core subsidiary. These improvements were offset in part by reorganization and severance costs related to operational changes in both Westaim and iFire that will reduce future annual operating costs; and by write-downs and realized losses incurred on the Company's investment in Canadian third-party asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP) totaling $5.1 million.

The 2007 results also include a net loss from discontinued operations of $55.2 million compared to a net loss from discontinued operations of $37.7 million in 2006. These losses, which relate to the Company's wholly owned subsidiary iFire Technologies Ltd., include a write-down of capital assets of $22.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2007.

At December 31, 2007, Westaim had $31.0 million in consolidated cash and short-term investments, compared to $62.5 million at December 31, 2006. Westaim's cash position, excluding cash and short-term investments held by its 74.5 per cent owned affiliate NUCRYST Pharmaceuticals Corp., was $13.2 million. In addition, Westaim held ABCP with a book value of $6.0 million.

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