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Technology Stocks : PRI Automation (PRIA) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Artslaw who wrote (1076)	11/21/2000 8:47:28 AM
From: Thai Chung	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1214

biz.yahoo.com Tuesday November 21, 8:30 am Eastern Time Press Release SOURCE: PRI Automation, Inc. PRI Automation Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2000 Results BILLERICA, Mass., Nov. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- PRI Automation, Inc. (Nasdaq: PRIA - news; Toronto: PRJ - news), a global leader in advanced automation systems and software to the semiconductor industry, today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended September 30, 2000. Net revenues on a proforma basis for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2000 were $79.7 million, a 90% increase over the fourth quarter of fiscal 1999. Net income on a proforma basis for the quarter was $1.5 million, or $0.06 per diluted share, compared with a net loss in the fourth quarter of fiscal 1999 of $5.1 million, or a loss of $0.23 per share for the fourth quarter. During the fiscal quarter, the company incurred $25.3 million in special charges related principally to manufacturing problems in the company's Factory Systems Division that were outlined in a September 11, 2000 news release. The special charges included an inventory provision of $14.6 million, provisions for contract losses and customer penalties of $8.9 million, and provisions of $1.8 million for warranty and other items. After giving effect to the special charges, net revenues for the fourth fiscal quarter were $75.5 million, and the net loss was $23.9 million, or $0.96 per share. For fiscal 2000, revenues on a proforma basis were $303.9 million, a 123% increase over fiscal year 1999 revenues of $136.3 million. Net income on a proforma basis was $17.4 million, or $0.68 per diluted share, compared with a net loss of $36.1 million, or a loss of $1.67 per share for fiscal 1999. Including the special charges, net revenues for the fiscal year were $299.8 million and the net loss was $8.0 million, or $0.34 per share. ``The revenue shortfall was due to the manufacturing problems in our Factory Systems Division, which we outlined in our September 11, 2000 news release,'' said Mitch Tyson, president and chief executive officer of PRI Automation. ``We have implemented an aggressive program to address these issues, and during the last two months, we have seen improvements that, we believe, demonstrate we are on track for recovery. ``Customer demand for our factory automation solutions was strong across all three of our major product lines,'' continued Tyson. ``New bookings for the quarter were $116.1 million for a book-to-bill of 1.5. We had record new bookings for fiscal 2000 of $426.4 million, an increase of 138% over last fiscal year, and we finished the year with $207.4 million in backlog. Our book-to-bill for fiscal 2000 was 1.4.'' PRI's OEM, Factory Systems and Software Divisions each turned in record years in both bookings and revenues. Revenues in the OEM Division grew 185% year over year with four consecutive quarters of record growth. The division maintained its position as the leading supplier of atmospheric wafer-handling systems and maintained its 6-8 week lead times, winning the confidence and praise of its top OEM customers. Revenues in Factory Systems increased 106% and new bookings increased 127% year over year, as it expanded its customer base for automated material handling systems. The Software Division grew its revenues 55% year over year, and it added 16 new named customers and 28 new MES licenses making PRI the leading supplier of MES software to the semiconductor industry. ``We are seeing an increase in TurboStocker shipments indicating that the corrective actions of our Factory Systems Division is beginning to produce positive results,'' said Tyson. ``Based on our current backlog and forecasts for new orders in fiscal year 2001, we believe we could grow net revenues at least 40% over fiscal 2000. Revenues for Q1 should be in the low-$90 million range and earnings per share in Q1 in the 14-16 cents range.'' Analyst Teleconference and Simultaneous Webcast PRI will host a teleconference to discuss its fourth quarter and fiscal 2000 results today at 12:00 p.m. ET. Internet users will be able to access a simultaneous, listen-only webcast of the teleconference through PRI's Web site at www.pria.com. An archive of the webcast will also be available at this site for 7 days. Tape Replay A taped replay of the teleconference will be available at approximately 5:00 p.m. ET today through Tuesday, December 5, at 8:00 p.m. ET. To listen to the teleconference replay, please dial 719-457-0820, passcode 414491.

To: Artslaw who wrote (1076)	11/22/2000 12:12:55 AM
From: Alan Gallaspy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1214

Steven, I am ashamed to admit that I signed on to one such "strike" suit, and received a whopping $0.54/share on a stock that I bought at $28.50 and ultimately went down to about $8/share. The CEO and largest shareholder, along with several officers, made millions by selling above $30, saying everything was wonderful and rosy the whole time. I do not know if they were untruthful or just incompetent. So the short answer to your question is "Yes, these things to pay out" but be aware that you only get chump change while Milburg Weiss keeps the vast majority of any settlement. Make no mistake about it, Lerach and pals make millions, fly on the Concorde, schmooz with the powerful and live a rarified existance at the expense of companies with volatile share prices and whose fortunes are often not entirely under their control. They most definitely do not have the interest of shareholders in mind, we are just insignificant pawns that they throw a few crumbs to while they run off with as much dough as they can. The only reason their legal activities have not been banned is that there is just enough book cooking and boardroom BS to just barely justify keeping these laws around. Oh yeah, and they give huge political contributions to trial lawyer PACs and money grubbing candidates.