Uniroyal, TriQuint and Trikon report financial results

Uniroyal Technology Corporation reported that sales for its December 2001 quarter increased 107% to $2.4 million versus $1.2 million in the December 2000 quarter. The total sales for Uniroyal Technology now reflect only the sales of the Compound Semiconductor & Optoelectronics business segment. The results of the Specialty Adhesives business segment (sold on November 9, 2001) and the Coated Fabrics business segment are reported as discontinued operations.

The loss before income taxes, minority interest and discontinued operations for the quarter ended December 30, 2001 was $13. 15 million, compared to a loss of just under $10 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2000. The increased loss was primarily due to start-up costs associated with increased capacity and personnel put in place at the silicon carbide facilities, a litigation settlement and a decrease in interest income. The litigation settlement ($785,000) related to the termination of a lease in Virginia. Quarterly losses at the optoelectronics operation declined compared to the year-ago. The Company recently announced a significant reduction in operating expenses, which will benefit results starting in March 2002 quarter.

"We continue to make qualitative improvement of our products and we are pleased with their acceptance in the market place as evidenced by our growth in sales," said Howard Curd, Chairman and CEO. "We continue to reduce costs, improve efficiencies and we are progressing toward the redeployment of our non-core assets to improve the liquidity of the Company."

TriQuint Semiconductor

TriQuint reported revenues of $65.4 million for the December 2001 quarter. The figures were in line with guidance issued during the middle of the quarter, which caused the company s share price to drop by 25%. Revenues were down 52% compared to the $136.6 million reported for the December 2000 quarter. Revenues of $60-65 million are expected for the first quarter of 2002. The company s net loss was $59.6 million, equal to a loss per diluted share of $0.46.

TriQuint s annual revenue was $335 million for 2000, down 27% compared to $460.6 million in 2000. Total revenues for 2002 are predicted to fall in the $280-300 million range. Net loss for 2001 was $26.2 million, equal to a loss per diluted share of $0.21.

"While some of our businesses such as commercial satellite and optical networks had a decline in revenue, our base station business experienced a recovery from the third quarter and our wireless phone business was essentially flat with last quarter," said Steve Sharp, Chairman, President and CEO. "For the full year, our results were adversely affected by the overall economic slowdown, the reduction in demand for optical networking products, the reduction in unit sales of wireless phones and the cut back in capital spending on base stations for wireless phones."

"We expect 2002 will be the beginning of a recovery for our business. Early indications are that sales of wireless phones will be seasonally soft compared to the fourth quarter of 2001, which is normal. Most of the major phone OEMs are predicting an increase in unit sales as the year progresses and as new models are introduced. The optical networking market remains soft. We are beginning to see some recovery in our products for base stations and our defense business is expected to perform well throughout 2002. The broadband, microwave and commercial satellite markets are currently soft, but we expect an improvement over the course of the year. Our forecast for revenue for the first quarter of 2002 is $60-65 million. We believe that we will begin to post sequentially improved sales in the second half of 2002 as our markets improve.

Trikon Technologies

Trikon Technologies reported that its annual revenues for 2001 were $97.0 million, a decrease of 9% compared to 2000. Operating income for the year ended December 31, 2001 was $14.2 million, a decrease of 30% over operating income of $20.2 million in the prior year. Net income for 2001 was $11.1 million or $0.88 per share compared to $18.0 million or $1.58 per share for 2000.

Revenues for the December 2001 quarter were $12.0 million, a decrease of 65% on $34.1 million for the December 2000 quarter. Operating loss for the fourth quarter was $1.1 million compared to an operating income of $8.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2000. The company s net loss for the December 2001 quarter was $0.2 million or $0.02 per share, compared to net income for the December 2000 quarter of $7.7 million or $0.65 per share.

"We are very pleased with our financial performance for 2001 given the very challenging market conditions which prevailed," said Nigel Wheeler, president and CEO. "Revenues for 2001 strongly reflect the solidity of our order backlog due to the excellent relationships we have with our customers. Equipment orders were scarce throughout the industry and the resultant lower run rate recently has depressed gross margins. Whilst order levels remain low at this time, they did pick up in the fourth quarter with a net book to bill ratio of 0.66:1. Research and development spend was maintained in the fourth quarter and increased 15 per cent from 2000 to full year 2001 reflecting Trikon s ongoing commitment to our new technologies."
E-mail: n/a