Financial focus

28 Jul 2005

The latest financial results from Corning, Lucent, LINOS, FLIR Systems and more.

•  FLIR has announced second quarter revenue of $131.0 million, an increase of 10% on the same quarter last year. Net earnings for second quarter 2005 increased 37% to $24.6 million. Revenue from the US firm's thermography division increased 18% over the second quarter last year following strong sales of its E-Series cameras. The company's imaging division delivered a 6% increase in revenue compared with second quarter 2004 figures.

•  Corning has reported second quarter sales of $1.141 billion, its 10th consecutive quarterly sales increase, with net income of $165 million. The US firm's Display Technology division achieved record sales of $415 million in the second quarter, a 30% increase over first quarter sales and a 50% increase over second quarter 2004. Optical fiber volume and pricing were essentially flat with first quarter results. "Corning's third quarter volume growth will be largely dependent upon our ability to continue to bring on additional large generation LCD glass melting and finishing capacity, and our customers ability to ramp up their new large-size generation fabs," commented Wendell Weeks, Corning's president.

•  LINOS of Germany is forecasting that revenue in the 2005 fiscal year will be at the bottom end of its EURO 81 to 85 million estimate following the announcement by Agfa Photo that it has initiated insolvency proceedings. LINOS has been forced to write off a EURO 2.5 million order placed by Agfa in 2004. Second quarter 2005 revenue stands at 19.1 million compared with 23.2 million for second quarter 2004. LINOS attributes the reduction to weakness in the semiconductor market.

•  Lucent Technologies has reported a net income of $372 million for its third quarter of fiscal 2005. This compares with a net income of $267 million for the previous quarter and $387 million for the same quarter last year. Revenues for the third quarter were flat sequentially at $2.34 billion, but up 7% year-on-year. "This quarter, we continued to deliver steady, profitable results driven primarily by our strength in 3G mobile networks and growth in our services business," said Lucent's CEO, Patricia Russo.

•  Planar, a provider of flat panel displays, recorded third quarter sales of $53.2 million, down 13% compared with second quarter 2005 and down 20% year-on-year. The company is predicting sales of around $50 million for the quarter ending September 30, 2005. "Sales declines in each of our business units reflect the display industry's increasingly competitive environment," said Balaji Krishnamurthy, Planar's CEO.

•  Advanced Medical Optics has announced second quarter net revenue of $227.1 million compared with $168.7 million for the same period last year. The growth in revenue is due to the firm's acquisition of laser vision correction specialist VISX and Pfizer ophthalmic surgical business, along with increased sales in its ophthalmic surgical and eye care brands. In the second quarter, the firm reported a net loss of $438.1 million compared with a net loss of $112.5 million for the same period last year. However, the 2005 figure is heavily impacted by a tax charge of $456.3 million associated with the company's recent acquisitions.