PHPG-
biz.yahoo.com
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Pres letter July-
PR NEWSWIRE) PPGI Releases Annual President's Letter
PPGI Releases Annual President's Letter
NORTHVALE, NJ, July 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Photonic Products Group,
Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: PHPG) today released the CEO's Letter from its 2004
Annual Report.
To Our Shareholders, Customers, and Employees
In 2004 we were pleased to see our existing businesses' revenues soar as
we and our customers faced a healthier economy, and to close our second
acquisition of an established Photonics company,
Highlights for the year included:
* combining successfully the acquired assets and employees of the former
Laser Optics, Inc. with those of INRAD's custom optics team within our
expanded Northvale, NJ operations to form the "new" Laser Optics
* raising $2 million of new capital, earmarked for the Group's expansion
* acquiring MRC Optics of Sarasota, FL in October, complementing our
Group's optical components product lines with metal and diamond turned
optics
* earning acknowledgements of outstanding supplier performance from our
seven largest OEM customers
* achieving a new revenue record of $9.2 million, up 71% from 2003
* receiving record new orders, totaling $11.2 million, up 88% from 2003
* reducing our net loss to $673,000, down 62% from the prior year
* returning to positive EBITDA for the first time in 3 years
Our industry is maturing and evolving, creating opportunities, and our
mission remains the same:
"to build PPGI into a diversified preferred provider of key photonic
products and services to customers in major segments of the Photonics
industry"
We are building for the long term, engaged in creating the strategies for
expanding PPGI, and in creating the kind of positive environment that enables
our employees to do their vital jobs well. We believe the way to build lasting
value is to focus on our mission, our customers, and our employees.
Priorities For 2005
Previewing 2005, while there are challenges, our main objectives are
achieving consolidated results from our current businesses that will again set
new records for revenue and order intake, with continued improvement in our
bottom line and EBITDA. Our corporate M&A program is active, as we target
expanding the Group further.
Daniel Lehrfeld
President and CEO
July 12, 2005
Photonic Products Group, Inc. develops, manufactures, and markets products
and services for use in diverse Photonics industry sectors via its portfolio
of distinctly branded businesses. INRAD specializes in crystal-based optical
components and devices, laser accessories and instruments. Laser Optics
specializes in precision custom optical components, assemblies, and optical
coatings. MRC Optics' business specializes in precision diamond turned optics,
metal optics, and opto-mechanical and electro-optical assemblies. PPGI's
customers include leading corporations in the Defense and Aerospace, Laser
Systems, and Process Control and Metrology sectors of the Photonics Industry,
as well as the U.S. Government. Its products are also used by researchers at
National Laboratories and Universities world-wide.
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from 2nd qtr pr-
Dan Lehrfeld, President and CEO of PPGI commented, "Total sales through mid-year set a new record and we continue to expect that will hold true as well for the year as a whole, thanks to growing sales of custom optical components from our three business units. While new order intake was moderate in Q2, it was not a cause for concern as the dates of new order releases from our OEM customers vary from year to year. In fact, new orders for July alone (i.e. this past month) exceeded $2.3M, nearly as high as for all of Q2. Gross profit margin in Q2 improved substantially over that in Q1 as our new MRC Optics subsidiary's sales rose and its GPM turned positive in the second quarter as anticipated. Were it not for lingering performance problems at two key MRC suppliers, the GPM increase seen in Q2 would have been even stronger. GPM at our legacy operations also improved, from 25.7% in Q1 to 27.2% in Q2. Cash flow from operations turned positive in Q2 as expected." |
