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Strategies & Market Trends : Market Gems-Trading Strong Earnings Growth and Momentum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jenna who wrote (5927)	3/6/2001 6:31:52 PM
From: 2MAR$	Respond to of 6445

Newport Corp. Announces Kensington Contribution to 2000 Results -- Reports Higher Than Anticipated EPS Accretion; Updates 2001 Forecast Business Editors IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 6, 2001--Newport Corp. (Nasdaq:NEWP) today presented financial results for its 2000 year, revised to incorporate the audited 2000 results of Kensington Laboratories Inc., which merged with Newport on Feb. 2, 2001, in a transaction that has been accounted for as a pooling of interests. Newport previously announced its results for 2000 on Jan. 24, 2001, prior to the close of the Kensington transaction, and accordingly such reported results did not include Kensington's results. For the year ended Dec. 31, 2000, Kensington contributed revenues of $31.1 million, bringing Newport's total revenues for the year to $284.0 million, up from the $252.9 million previously reported for Newport alone. Newport's revised net income rose by $8.5 million, or $0.15 per diluted share, to $36.3 million, or $1.01 per diluted share, versus the $0.86 reported for Newport alone prior to the revision. Prior to final audit of Kensington's 2000 results, Newport had estimated the Kensington transaction would be accretive to earnings per diluted share by approximately $0.10 for the full year 2000. More information regarding the effect of the Kensington merger on Newport's 2000 Consolidated Income Statement will be available today on Newport's Web page at www.newport.com. The company also announced that it now expects Kensington to be accretive to Newport's 2001 earnings by approximately $0.17 to $0.20 per diluted share. Previously, the company had estimated the accretion to 2001 earnings per diluted share to be approximately $0.15. Newport **we'll see also reaffirmed its previously reported expectation of approximately $50 million in revenue for Kensington in 2001. Beginning with Newport's 2001 first-quarter results, slated to be released on April 18, 2001, Kensington's results will be fully incorporated and will not be reported separately. "We are pleased to report better-than-expected revised results in conjunction with our merger with Kensington Laboratories," said Robert G. Deuster, Newport's chairman, president and chief executive officer. "Kensington's results for the fourth quarter of 2000 were even better than we had anticipated during our due diligence. The final audit of Kensington's 2000 financial statements produced far fewer adjustments to conform Kensington's financial statements to GAAP reporting standards than we had originally anticipated, which increased its contribution to Newport's earnings. "More importantly, looking ahead, we believe that Kensington's business will continue to be strong, despite the widely reported reductions in capital spending in the telecommunications and semiconductor capital equipment markets. Kensington's OEM customers in the semiconductor equipment manufacturing market continue to invest in the next-generation products in which Kensington specializes, specifically those designed for narrower line widths and 300-millimeter applications." Robert Phillippy, vice president and general manager of Newport's Industrial and Scientific Technologies Division (ISTD), added: "We are moving quickly to integrate Kensington into Newport's ISTD operations and to realize the full benefit of its expertise in high-precision robotics and motion control. We continue to see demand from our customers for higher degrees of automation for their testing and manufacturing processes. "In addition to the benefits we expect to achieve as we integrate our businesses supporting semiconductor capital equipment customers, we also anticipate enhancing our efficiency and profitability related to the manufacture of fiber optic products." Kensington, which has headquarters in Richmond, Calif., holds more than 20 patents covering advanced robotics and motion control technology. The company's technology has also been applied to fiber optic component assembly and automation through its use in Newport's photonics packaging solutions over the last five years, and is used in semiconductor capital equipment for high-precision positioning and handling of semiconductor wafers.