MILPITAS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 13, 1998--Linear
Technology Corporation (OTC-LLTC), a leading, independent manufacturer
of high performance linear integrated circuits, today announced that
net sales for its first quarter ended September 27, 1998, were
$116,032,000, an increase of 6% over net sales of $109,802,000 for the
first quarter of the previous year.
The Company also reported net income for the quarter of
$44,382,000 or $0.56 diluted earnings per share, an increase of 9%
over $40,643,000 or $0.51 diluted earnings per share, reported for the
first quarter of last year. A cash dividend of $0.07 will be paid on
November 11, 1998 to shareholders of record on October 23, 1998.
During the quarter the Company purchased back 1,800,000 shares of its
common stock at a cost of approximately $100,000,000.
According to Robert H. Swanson, President and CEO, "The global
financial crisis is having an impact on our results. Although we grew
year to year, for only the second time in our history sales and
profits were lower than the previous quarter. Nevertheless, we
continued to have outstanding profitability as our return on sales of
38.2% was both a record for the Company and the strongest in the
industry.
"Looking at our August and September activity; the acceptance of
our new products at customers; and, the historical seasonality of our
business, we would have expected sales to grow as a percent next
quarter in the low single digits. However, given the turmoil in the
global financial markets and the impact the resulting pessimism is
likely to have on business confidence, we believe it is prudent to
temper our growth expectations. Consequently, this upcoming quarter
may have little or no sales growth. Nevertheless, we continue to
believe strongly in our market positioning and our strategy and have
taken this opportunity to buy back 1.8 million shares of our common
stock for approximately $100 million." |
