Financial focus

05 Feb 2004

A selection of the latest financial results from Cymer, Newport, VISX and more.

•  Cymer, the US maker of ultraviolet light sources, has reported a net loss of $15.4 million and a revenue of $267.496 million for the year ending December 31, 2003. This compares with a net income of $13.596 million and a revenue of $290.16 million for 2002.

Despite this fall in annual revenues, there was an air of optimism from Bob Akins, Cymer’s CEO: “We anticipate a record revenue year for the company in 2004.” This attitude is largely thanks to the company’s performance in the final quarter of 2003, when it recorded net earnings of $1.674 million.

•  Newport has announced fourth quarter sales of $36.2 million, up 12% year-on-year. Net sales for the year came in at $134.8 million, down $29.2 million from the 2002 figure.

The firm’s fourth quarter loss was $1.7 million compared with $4.3 million in the corresponding prior-year period. Newport also announced that new orders received in the fourth quarter totaled $37.5 million, up 33% year-on-year.

•  VISX, the US provider of laser vision correction systems, has reported a revenue of $143.9 million and net income of $23.3 million for its 2003 fiscal year. The company’s 2002 revenue was $139.9 million and net income was $15.3 million.

For the fourth quarter of 2003, the company posted a net income of $8.8 million, compared with a net loss of $1.5 million in the corresponding quarter in the previous year.

•  JDS Uniphase has announced a second quarter revenue of $153 million, up $6 million on its first quarter figure and down $4 million year-on-year. Although the company saw its net loss double in its current second quarter to reach $59 million, this is a big improvement on the net loss of $215 million, which was reported for the second quarter of fiscal 2002.

"As our markets stabilize and begin to show signs of growth, we approached this quarter with an intense focus on customer-driven execution improvements and a continuing drive towards profitability,” said Kevin Kennedy, the company’s CEO.

•  Zygo has reported net sales of $27.7 million and earnings from continuing operations of $0.9 million in its second quarter of fiscal 2004. This compares with net sales of $26.3 million and earnings from continuing operations of $0.4 million in the same quarter of 2003. Zygo’s semiconductor segment contributed $16.1 million to the second quarter sales figure, while its industrial segment brought in $11.6 million.