MARKETS
Teradyne cuts losses by 35pc
17-04-2002
by Paula Mythen
Communications equipment maker Teradyne narrowed its net loss by 35 percent, beating expectations slightly, but still recorded a deficit of USD73.4 million in Q1 2002.
On a per share basis, the net loss for Q1 equates to USD0.40 excluding special charges. Including special charges, the net loss was USD77.1 million, or USD0.42 per share. The figures from Teradyne show improvement over the last quarter when the company had a loss of USD112.6 million, or USD0.63 per share. For Q1 2001 the firm reported a profit of USD54 million, or USD0.30 a share.
The company's latest results beat analysts' expectations slightly, who were looking for Teradyne to post a loss of between USD0.34 and USD0.45 a share, with a consensus loss estimate of USD0.41 a share, according to Thomson Financial/First Call.
The world's largest supplier of automatic test equipment recorded sales of USD248 million for the first quarter of 2002, down from USD605.2 million a year ago.
"Things are clearly better than they were three months ago," said Teradyne chairman and chief executive George Chamillard. "Four of our five businesses had higher sales and higher net bookings in the first quarter of 2002 than in the fourth quarter of 2001. On the other hand, while some markets are improving, there are still many that are not."
"Given the improvements in our gross orders, customer pull-ins from our backlog and a reduction in cancellations, we plan to increase sales beyond the level of the first quarter by approximately 20 percent to between USD280 million and USD310 million. We expect this to result in a loss of USD0.31 per share, plus or minus 10 percent, before any special charges," Chamillard concluded.
Teradyne employs around 160 in Dublin. The company was set to dramatically expand its operations in Ireland and create as many 800 new jobs in Cavan. But in November of 2001 the firm cancelled the project after posting poor Q3 results.
The new 220,000 square foot facility on a 94-acre site in Cavan was expected to cost over EUR63 million. But the project, originally announced in 2000, was behind schedule and it is though that the company received planning permission only days before the expansion was cancelled.
Teradyne Incorporated was established in 1960, and employs more than 10,000 worldwide. In addition to Ireland it has operations in the USA, Japan, UK and Germany.
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