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Atmel's profits rise in spite of lower-than-forecast revenue [Gazette, The (CO)](Gazette, The (CO) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) California-based semiconductor manufacturer Atmel Corp., which operates its only chip plant in Colorado Springs, reported Wednesday that it boosted its second-quarter profits by nearly half despite generating lower-than-expected revenue. Atmel earned $19.2 million, or 5 cents a share, in the April-to- June quarter, up 47.7 percent from $13 million, or 3 cents a share, during the same period a year ago, and nearly nine times higher than the $2.2 million, or 1 cent a share, the company earned during the previous quarter. A late December fire that shut down Atmel's Springs plant for nearly four weeks cut revenue by nearly $16 million and led to $7.06 million in losses during the first quarter. The profit improvement came despite weak sales - Atmel's second- quarter revenue increased just 5.4 percent from a year earlier to $355.5 million, slightly below the midpoint of the company's forecast and about $700,000 less than forecasts from the 18 analysts who follow the company's shares. The company's profits, when adjusted to exclude the effects of the fire, restructuring and other one-time events, met analysts' forecasts of 9 cents a share. "Our financial performance demonstrated significant improvement, both sequentially and year-over-year," Atmel CEO Steve Laub said Wednesday in a press release. Atmel is "on track to deliver substantially enhanced operating performance throughout the remainder of the year." Atmel reversed losses of $34.7 million, or 8 cents a share,from the first half of 2013 to earn $21.4 million, or 5 cents a share, in the first half of this year despite revenue barely growing by 2.4 percent during the six-month period to $692.9 million. The company told stockholders and analysts Wednesday on a conference call to expect revenue of $364 million to $382 million during the current quarter, which would be up from the third quarter of 2013 by between 2.2 percent and 7.2 percent. (c) 2014 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved. |