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Southwall Technologies Expects To Post 'Small' 3rd-Quarter Profit
DOW JONES ONLINE NEWS
September 30, 1997 , 4:32
Language: English

Text:
PALO ALTO, Calif. -(Dow Jones)- Southwall Technologies Inc., a Palo Alto, Calif., maker of thin film coatings, said early Tuesday it will report a "small" profit for the third quarter ended Sept. 28 on revenues "slightly higher" than the second quarter.

Southwall (SWTX) didn't provide specific estimates for the third quarter. Analysts' expectations for Southwall also weren't available.

For the third quarter ended Sept. 29, 1996, Southwall earned $555,000, or eight cents a share, on revenues of $10.0 million.

For the second quarter ended Sept. 29, 1997, the company earned $602,000, or eight cents a share, on revenues of $11.7 million.

Southwall attributed the "lower than anticipated" third-quarter results to start-up expenses for the new manufacturing facility in Tempe, Ariz., continuing scale-up costs for automotive films and downtime on its antireflective-films production equipment in Palo Alto, Calif.

The company also said start-up activities at the new factory are progressing well and the company hopes to begin shipments of product to Sony Corp. (SNE) within a few weeks.

Southwall said orders for both antireflective and automotive films "continue to be very strong, exceeding current production capability."

With the new Tempe capacity and upgrades implemented in Palo Alto in the third quarter, the company said it expects to see an "improved" situation in the fourth quarter.

Southwall expects the Tempe facility to be at full operation by the first quarter of next year. As a result, the company expects to realize "substantial operating and financial benefits."

For the first quarter ended March 30, Southwall earned $766,000, or 11 cents a share, on revenues of $10.9 million. Excluding start-up costs of $178,000 related to its manufacturing facility in Tempe, the company earned $944,000, or 13 cents a share.

The company earned $657,000, or nine cents a share, on revenues of $10.1 million in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31.

In Nasdaq trading Monday, shares of Southwall fell 25 cents, or 3.1%, to $7.875.

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