This from annual report to shareholders filed today w/Edgar. Annual meeting sked for Dec 21st. Stock is at .13/.18 on OTC BB. See Edgar for all filings.
TO OUR SHAREHOLDERS:
1997 marked a challenging year for Mikros. We initialized new commercial
applications and continued to strengthen our relationship with Safeguard
Scientifics, Inc. Mikros reported a loss of $605,000 on revenues of
$5,097,000 for the year ended December 31, 1997, compared to a loss of
$1,447,000 on revenues of $859,000 for 1996. Although we entered 1997 with a
record backlog the continued heavy investment in both the defense and
commercial programs took its toll on the Company's cash position. Thus the
Mikros Board of Directors elected to sell the defense business after
considering the results of operations, and the need to prioritize the
Company's resources.
Mikros entered negotiations in late 1997 for the sale of its defense business
to General Atronics Corporation (GAC) of Wyndmoor, PA. Completed in April,
1998, Mikros received $600,000 in cash and $1,000,000 in engineering
services for development of commercial products for the Company. Mikros
also receives a 2% royalty on all military Data Terminal Sets GAC sells in the
U.S. or international over the next four years. GAC subsequently hired
several Mikros engineers.
After the sale, your Board of Directors decided to more aggressively pursue
the effective use of our patented AM Radio Digital Data Transmission system.
As a result, this development is presently being executed at GAC, with the
team of former Mikros engineers.
Mikros continues to have a strong strategic relationship with Safeguard
Scientifics, Inc. of Wayne, PA. The AM Radio Data Transmission technology
will be marketed through Mobile Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), a company
jointly owned by Safeguard Scientifics and Mikros. The expenditure of
$500,000 of our engineering credits at GAC has resulted in Mikros' ownership
of MBC being increased to 50% with Safeguard owning the other 50%.
Successful progress in the development of the AM technology has taken us
through the planned laboratory phase and is expected to proceed to live
testing at two radio stations during the fourth quarter of 1998. We believe
these empirical tests will demonstrate simultaneous transmission of the normal
radio signal and the new digital signal.
We believe this high speed digital radio development has positioned the
Company at the very cutting edge of digital radio. The goal of this program
is to offer a product that will provide an inexpensive wireless data delivery
system for mobile and portable applications such as car radios and pagers.
We look forward to the continued challenges that we face in the year ahead.
We would like to thank you for your continued support.
Sincerely,
Thomas J. Meaney
President and Chairman of the Board |
