OCTOBER 28--StockerYale Inc. (Salem, NH; www.stockeryale.com), an independent provider of photonics-based products, has announced its financial results for the third quarter, ended September 30, 2004. Revenues for the third quarter 2004 were $4.9 million, an increase of 32% over the $3.7 million reported in the third quarter of 2003, and up 9% from the prior quarter. Revenue growth was led by higher laser sales and a 28% increase in LED shipments for machine-vision system applications. This revenue increase, along with the initial cost savings achieved through manufacturing consolidation, increased gross profit to $1.5 million for the quarter compared to $1.0 million recorded in the third quarter of 2003. Gross margins for third-quarter 2004 and 2003 were 30% and 26%, respectively.
Operating loss showed a 17% improvement from the third quarter of 2003, narrowing to $1.8 million from $2.2 million. The Company noted that operating expense comparisons to the third quarter of 2003 include items that were non-recurring in nature. These included approximately $500,000 for professional fees and severance expense recorded in the third quarter of 2004 and the $605,000 asset impairment charge recorded in the third quarter of 2003. Reported net loss increased 4% compared to the third quarter 2003 due to increased amortized financing costs associated with convertible debt security issues.
"The StockerYale team continued to build on the momentum established in late 2003, as the third quarter represented a record in terms of revenues and gross profit," said Mark W. Blodgett, chairman and chief executive officer. "The quarter represented the company's third consecutive comparative and sequential increase in revenues and gross profit, as the company continues to generate new product revenues from substantial technology investments over the last two years," he added.