Although the firm's income plummeted, III-V revenues rose 6.8 percent to $66.5 million for fiscal 2011 and overall, Kopin fared better than it did last year

Kopin Corporation has announced financial results for the fourth quarter and 12 months ended December 31, 2011.

Despite the disappointing financial results in the last quarter, the company remains positive.

 



 

"We concluded a successful 2011 with strong fourth-quarter growth," says John C.C. Fan, Kopin's President and Chief Executive Officer. "Total revenues for the fourth quarter of 2011 increased 6.3 percent to $35.2 million from $33.1 million for the comparable period of 2010."

"Driven by strong global sales of wireless handsets and growing demand for our BiFET and BiHEMT structures as enabling technology for smartphone power amplifiers, III-V product revenues increased 15 percent for the fourth quarter to $17.4 million from $15.1 million in the same period in 2010," Fan continues.

"BiHEMTs deliver the high performance in the small footprints required by next-generation smartphones, and our integrated circuit customers' BiHEMT qualification and production activities increased significantly in the fourth quarter."

"Display revenue decreased $0.3 million to $17.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2011, reflecting lower R&D and military display revenue, partially offset by higher revenue from consumer electronics applications," adds Fan. "In addition, development of our Golden-i voice-activated, hands-free, cloud computing and communications technology progressed on schedule."

Fourth-quarter 2011 GAAP net loss was $67,000, or $0.00 per basic and diluted share, compared with net income of $4.7 million, or $0.07 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2010. Results for the fourth quarter of 2011 included a non-cash intangible asset and goodwill impairment charge of $5.0 million associated with Kopin's Forth Dimension Displays Ltd (FDD) subsidiary and a non-cash income tax benefit resulting from the release of a deferred tax valuation allowance of $4.3 million related to its Kopin Taiwan Corporation (KTC) subsidiary.

Results for the fourth quarter of 2010 included gains of $0.6 million on the sale of patents and the receipt of $1.4 million of insurance proceeds.

Full-year Financial Results

Total revenues for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011 increased 8.9 percent to $131.1 million from $120.4 million a year earlier. III-V revenues rose 6.8 percent to $66.5 million for fiscal 2011 from $62.2 million in fiscal 2010. Display product revenue increased 11.2 percent to $64.7 million from $58.2 million a year earlier.

 



Gross margin for the 12 months ended December 31, 2011 increased to $43.4 million, or 34.6 percent of revenues, from $35.4 million, or 30.4 percent of revenues, for 2010.

Operating loss was $0.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2011, compared with operating income of $4.6 million for 2010. Results for fiscal 2011 included impairment charges associated with FDD of approximately $5.0 million. Results for fiscal 2010 included gains from insurance proceeds of approximately $1.5 million.

GAAP net income for fiscal 2011 was $3.6 million, or $0.06 per diluted share, compared with GAAP net income of $8.9 million, or $0.13 per diluted share, for fiscal 2010. Results for 2011 included a non-cash intangible asset and goodwill impairment charge of $5.0 million associated with Kopin's FDD subsidiary and a non-cash income tax benefit of $4.3 million related to KTC.

Results for 2010 included gains of $0.8 million on the sale of patents that the Company was no longer using, the receipt of $1.8 million of insurance proceeds and $2.6 million from the sale of investments.

The impairment charge for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2011 reflects the Company's current estimate of the fair market value of the FDD business. The value of this charge is subject to change.

"During 2011, we maintained a strong financial position while investing for the future. Our 2011 gross margin dollars increased $8.0 million compared with 2010, which enabled us to increase internal R&D investments in our III-V, display and Golden-i technologies by $5.1 million," comments Fan.

"We generated $18.1 million of cash from operating activities in 2011, which allowed us to spend $11.0 million for the acquisition of FDD, $5.9 million for capital expenditures and $4.4 million for the repurchase of stock while finishing the year with cash and equivalents and marketable securities of $105.4 million versus $111 million at December 25, 2010. As of year-end 2011 we continued to have no long-term debt."

Business Outlook

"We anticipate another strong year of growing global demand for smartphones to drive a solid performance for our III-V business in 2012, and our Golden-i technology is on track for a 2012 launch," Fan says. "However, we expect Defence Department budget cuts to negatively affect our military display revenue and as a result, for full-year 2012 we expect to generate total revenues in the range of $110 million to $120 million."

"The Defence Department budget cuts were not unexpected and we have been planning for this situation for some time. For example, by the end of this month we anticipate the completion of a plant consolidation project we started more than a year ago. We have consolidated all of our domestic display manufacturing activities into one facility that allowed us to consolidate all of our domestic III-V activities into one facility and we effectively closed our other domestic III-V facility this month."

"Actions like these will help to generate substantial cost savings, allowing Kopin to remain financially strong and flexible so that we can continue to invest in the future growth of our business. In 2012 we will continue to focus on developing our BiFET and BiHEMT smartphone technologies as well as on working with our partner for the successful launch of our Golden-i technologies. We believe these investments will position us to further capitalize on our leadership position in III-V technology, as well as on our expertise in advanced display imaging systems for consumer and industrial markets to drive market share gains and longer-term growth for Kopin," concludes Fan.

Kopin hosted a teleconference call for investors and analysts and is archived as an audio webcast on the "Investors" section of the Kopin website, www.kopin.com .