This is in this mornings Ottawa Sun.
Friday, October 9, 1998
JDS Fitel stays hot
By KEVIN BELL, Ottawa Sun
JDS FITEL Inc.'s profit train continues to steam ahead.
The Nepean-based manufacturer of fibre-optic components announced yesterday it has recorded net income of $17.1 million in its first fiscal year of 1991, a sharp 68% increase from the same period last year.
Earnings per share amounted to 22cents a share, up from 14cents in the same period last year.
Sales in the quarter were $80.1 million, or 65% higher than a year ago.
That blows away some analysts' expectations of 18cents a share profit.
The recent quarter marks the eighth consecutive quarter in which JDS profits have topped 20% of sales. That puts JDS in a league of its own among local hi-tech firms.
But investors have turned a cold shoulder on JDS in the last six months.
The company's share price plunged by $1.05 Wednesday to a 52-week low of $14.95. It recovered slightly yesterday, rising by 30cents to close at $15.25. That's a long way from the 52-week high of $31.67 the company posted earlier this year.
The company's results were released after the stock markets closed.
Chief financial officer Zita Cobb said the firm's share price is a victim of the general downdraft in the stocks in recent months.
"There's been a lot of near hysteria in the market in the last few weeks and everybody's getting hit by that."
Cobb said investors often overlook the fact that JDS is in a niche market which is resisting the battering that many sectors are getting.
Gurinder Parhar, an analyst with HSBC James Capel in Toronto, said before results were released that analysts were looking for a continuation of "top-line growth" from JDS.
"Fibre-optics is still extremely attractive." he said.
Parhar said more than three quarters of JDS Fitel's sales come from the U.S., whose economy is still showing signs of growth. Europe accounts for 14% of total sales. |
