Business briefs

01 Nov 2002

Including news from Planar Systems, Alcatel Optronics, JDS Uniphase, Corning, DALSA and more.

•  Planar Systems, the US maker of flat-panel displays, has recorded its highest-ever quarterly sales. For the fourth quarter, sales were USD 58.3 million, up 15% from the same quarter last year. Annual revenues for fiscal year 2002 totalled USD 205.9 million. Planar anticipates an annual growth rate of 12% for the next fiscal year.

•  Alcatel Optronics, the French telecom company, has registered sales of EURO 13 million for the third quarter of 2002, a sequential drop of 48.8%. Net loss for the period was EURO 78.6 million. The firm's CEO says that visibility is still very poor and that sales for the fourth quarter are anticipated to drop by a further 30 to 40%.

•  ITF Optical Technologies, a maker of passive photonic components, is to acquire certain business assets of fellow Canadian firm Resonance Photonics. The deal gives ITF access to Resonance's know-how in making components in next-generation fiber amplifiers and laser modules.

•  Sales are continuing to fall at JDS Uniphase, the optical components giant. For the quarter ended 30 September 2002, JDS recorded net sales of USD 193 million, down from USD 222 million in the preceding quarter. The company is continuing its cost reduction plans and says that it has slashed its annual cost rate by USD 1.1 billion.

•  DALSA has reported an increase in its net income for a second consecutive quarter. Net income for the quarter ended September 30 was USD 3.7 million, up 9% from the preceding quarter and up 236% year-on-year.

•  StockerYale has reported stable quarterly net revenues of USD 3.5 million. The US-based company says significant gain in LED shipments and continued improvement in its fiber-optic production line offset the decline in phase mask revenue.

•  Corning, the US optical fiber and glass specialist, achieved sales of USD 837 million for the third quarter 2002, a sequential decline of 7%. The company intends to close three optical fiber plants in the fourth quarter resulting in a restructuring charge of between USD 550 million and USD 650 million.

•  Excel Technology has bought Continuum Electro Optics' US-based scientific division and its subsidiaries in Europe and Japan. Continuum's US facility, which will now be known as Excel Continuum Corp, will manufacture Excel's line of scientific and industrial solid-state lasers.

•  New Focus, the Californian maker of photonics equipment, has reported revenues of USD 6.7 million and a net loss of USD 57.5 million for the third quarter of 2002. The firm says that during the period it completed a restructuring program which cost USD 37 million and involved the closure of a manufacturing facility in San Jose, US.