Financial focus

30 Oct 2003

A selection of the latest financial results from GSI Lumonics, Bookham Technology, Newport, Coreco and more.

•  Restructuring activities are paying off at GSI Lumonics, the maker of precision optical components and laser systems. The company has just posted third quarter sales of $44.9 million, up 20% on the same quarter last year. Net income of $550 000 for the quarter was in stark contrast to the net loss of $5.4 million reported last year. GSI also saw its orders increase by 28% year-on-year to $50.1 million. “The gains in orders and revenue are the first solid signs of recovery in the electronics and semiconductor markets,” said GSI’s president Charles Winston.

•  Further evidence of the semiconductor-market recovery came from Coreco, a Canadian developer of computer vision products which reported a 40% rise in sales to Asia for the year-to-date. The company’s third quarter revenue and net earnings both grew marginally to $4.76 million and $274 410 respectively compared with the same quarter last year.

•  Third quarter revenue grew 204% year-on-year at UK-based Bookham Technology. The maker of optical components, which recently made a string of acquisitions, reported a revenue of £23.1 million ($37.1 million) for the three months ended September 28, 2003, up 10% on the previous quarter. The company also posted a quarterly net loss of £29.2 million, which included exceptional charges of £14.6 million. Cash burn for the third quarter was £22.9 million, but the company hopes to reduce this to less than £10 million in the fourth quarter of 2003.

•  New orders in the third quarter of 2003 totalled $37 million at Newport, the company’s strongest quarter to date this year. The optics specialist also announced a loss from continuing operations of $2.8 million, a massive improvement on the $59.4 million loss reported at the end of the third quarter of 2002. Third quarter sales however came in at $31.5 million, compared with $45.5 million year-on-year.

•  There was an air of optimism from Nic Pignati as well, president of New Focus: “We are beginning to see an improved order flow for our product line and sense a difference in the general business climate.” New Focus posted a net third quarter revenue of $7.7 million, up from $6.3 million in the previous quarter and $6.7 million the third quarter of 2002.

•  ADVA, a German maker of optical networking kit, has posted a third quarter revenue of EURO 23 million, a sequential rise from EURO 22.7 million in the previous quarter and up EURO 1 million on the same quarter last year. The company also posted a net income of EURO 1 million, a welcome change from the net loss of EURO 0.1 million reported in the third quarter of 2002.