Financial focus

04 May 2005

The latest financial results from Coherent, GSI Lumonics, Newport and more.

•  Coherent has posted sales of $131.2 million and a net income of $19.6 million for its second quarter of fiscal 2005. Sales and net income for the corresponding prior year quarter were $125.8 million and $3.0 million respectively. In comparison, the immediately preceding quarter's results were sales of $126.0 million and a net income of $5.4 million. Orders received during the second quarter were $129.4 million compared with a record high of £137.4 million in the same period last year and $128.6 million in the previous quarter.

•  Sales at GSI Lumonics were $64.8 million for the first quarter of 2005 compared with $74.9 million for the same period in 2004. Net income decreased to $0.1 million compared with $8.9 million for Q1 of 2004 as did bookings which fell to $62.4 million - a decrease of $25.9 million. "We are disappointed in these financial results," said GSI's president Charles Wilson. "Unexpected delivery delays requested by customers within the Laser Systems segment, combined with some non-recurring costs were the prime causes."

•  Newport has announced sales for the first quarter of 2005 of $97.0 million. New orders received during the same period came in at $101.3 million. "Had the financial results of Newport and Spectra-Physics been combined for the first quarter of 2004, sales would have been approximately $94.9 million and orders approximately $93.6 million," said Newport's president Robert Deuster. "On a comparable quarter-to-quarter basis we saw 2% growth in sales and 8% growth in orders." The company also posted a quarterly net income of $5.2 million.

•  Zygo, the US maker of optical metrology instruments, has seen earnings for its third quarter of fiscal 2005 more than double year-on-year. Third quarter earnings for fiscal 2005 came in at $2.4 million compared with £1.0 million for the same period in fiscal 2004. Net sales for the quarter increased 19% to £33.7 million compared with the prior year third quarter. "We experienced strong order demand from our semiconductor customers," explained Zygo's chairman Bruce Robinson. "The key drivers for this demand were the flat panel and lithography markets."

•  VISX has posted first quarter total revenues of $51.3 million, up 17% from $43.8 million in the first quarter of 2004. Net income for the quarter also increased 25% to $14.6 million compared with Q1 of 2004. The company also reported an increase in license revenues and growth in all VISX product areas. During its announcement, VISX also said that it expects to merge with fellow US firm AMO by the end of May 2005.