Sun Microsystems Inc., the computer server manufacturer, released its fourth quarter earnings report for 2006 on Wednesday, highlighting high revenue growth despite posting a net loss.

The net loss for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2006 was $301 million, compared to a net income of $50 million in the same period last year. The earnings per share this quarter lost 9 cents compared to 1 cent in the same quarter last year.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call expected, the firm to lose 3 cents on $3.6 billion in revenues.

Revenue in the quarter was $3.83 billion, an increase of 29 percent compared to $2.97 billion in the previous quarter for 2005. This growth was achieved through both acquisitions and the increasing acceptance of its new Solaris 10 Operating System, the company said in a statement.

Earlier this year, in his first move as CEO, Jonathan Schwartz, who took over the position from co-founder and former CEO Scott McNealy, announced the elimination of 5,000 jobs or 13 percent of the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company's workforce.

"We're making excellent progress returning Sun to growth and profitability,' Schwartz said. "Revenue, bookings and backlog are all up substantially - indicating we're gaining traction, market confidence and share.'

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