Company Press Release
Spire Corporation Reports Third Quarter/Nine Months Results
Revenue Up 47%, Per-Share Net Reaches 22 Cents
BEDFORD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 12, 1997--Spire Corporation (NASDAQ:SPIR - news), which provides products and services to photovoltaics, optoelectronics and biomedical markets worldwide, today reported sales and earnings for the third quarter ended September 30,1997.
Third quarter net income was a record $725,000, or $0.22 cents per share, up from a net loss of $479,000, or $0.16 cents per share, for the comparable period of 1996. Third quarter net sales and revenues rose 47 percent to $6,176,000 from $4,213,000 for the same period of 1996.
Net income for the first nine months of 1997 climbed to $1,577,000, or $0.48 cents per share, from a net loss of $712,000, or $0.24 cents per share, for the first nine months of 1996. Net sales and revenues for the first nine months of 1997 increased 36 percent to $17,060,000 from $12,540,000 for the first nine months of 1996.
Commenting on the results, Roger G. Little, Chairman and President, said, ''Each of our three major markets continued to perform well during the third quarter, all showing significant growth from the third quarter of 1996. In addition, the company's ability to generate cash continues to be strong, showing cash reserves as of September 30, 1997 of $1.4 million.
''Our Photovoltaics revenues nearly doubled over the comparable quarter of 1996. Shipments were made during the quarter to the Microelectronic Laboratory in Egypt, Shell Solar in The Netherlands, Solar Fabrik in Germany, Solec in the United States, and Kyocera in Japan. The Solar Fabrik shipment completed an order enabling that company to establish a major photovoltaic module production facility. Their new factory officially opened on October 16, 1997 in Freiberg, Germany.
''Our Optoelectronics area also performed well during the quarter. Revenues grew significantly over the same period of 1996. The growth is attributed to strong government research and development contract activity as well as growth in the sale of commercial products.
''The Biomedical area continues to show positive strength with growth in both the orthopedic IONGUARD(R) and the IONCIDE(TM) product lines. Third quarter revenue in this area also grew over the same period of 1996.
''We have strengthened our Board of Directors with the recent addition of Michael T. Eckhart. Mr. Eckhart is a recognized expert in the field of solar photovoltaics and brings a global understanding of this important market to Spire's Board. He is currently a project director of the Solar Bank, a planned financing entity that will be a source of secondary lending for photovoltaic markets. We welcome Mr. Eckhart and his market insights to our Board and look forward to his significant
contribution,'' Little concluded.
Certain matters discussed in this news release may be forward-looking statements subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward- looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the risk of dependence on government agencies and other third parties for funding contract research and services, as well as other factors described in the Company's Form 10-KSB filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. |
