Business briefs

24 Jan 2003

Including news from Ericsson, Jenoptik, Corning, Lucent Technologies and more.

•  Ericsson has signed an agreement to sell its optoelectronics business, Ericsson Optoelectronics, to Northlight Optronics AB. The deal is effective immediately and Ericsson's 48 employees have been transferred to the new company. Ericsson retains 9.9% ownership in the new operation.

•  Jenoptik of Germany and Hilti Aktiengesellschaft of Liechtenstein have founded a joint venture called Hillos to develop laser distance measuring equipment. The move consolidates the two companies' previous production partnership.

•  Corning has announced fourth quarter sales from continuing operations of USD 736 million and sales from discontinued operations of USD 65 million. The company reported a loss from continuing operations of USD 1.14 billion including restructuring costs of USD 1.46 billion. Despite these losses, the company made profits of USD 430 million from discontinued operations including an after-tax gain on the sale of its precision lens business of USD 415 million.

•  JDS Uniphase has reported sales for the second quarter ended 31 December 2002 of USD 157 million compared with $193 for the previous quarter and USD 286 million for the quarter ended 31 December 2001.

•  Intense Photonics, the UK maker of integrated optical components, has added 95 ² of cleanroom space to its Scottish semiconductor fabrication facility. The new area will provide additional optoelectronic life test, assembly and packaging and enable the company to fully qualify its products in-house.

•  Lucent Technologies has reported revenues of USD 2.08 billion in the first quarter of fiscal 2003 ended 31 December 2002. This represents a 9% sequential decline from the USD 2.28 billion revenues achieved in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2002. The company recorded USD 3.58 billion in revenues in the year-ago quarter. Net loss for the latest quarter was USD 264 million.

•  The Kidger Scholarship in Optical Design is now inviting graduates to apply for the 2003 award. For more information and an application form visit Kidger Optics. The closing date for applications in the 31 March.