AEROSPACE FIRM STRUGGLING; WHITTAKER CORP. TO SELL ELECTRONICS DIVISION; REPORTS $27.1 MILLION QUARTERLY LOSS.Byline: Gregory J. Wilcox Daily News Staff Writer Whittaker Corp., a Simi Valley-based aerospace company struggling under a huge debt load, said Friday that it will sell its defense electronics unit and take a $27.1 million loss for the third quarter. Whittaker, which had been trying to sell the unit that makes missile defense systems and other military electronics products since March 1996, finally found "Finally Found" was the debut single from the Honeyz. This was their most successful single in the UK and worldwide, securing a number 4 position in the UK singles chart and achieved platinum status in Australia [1] Tracklisting # Title Length a buyer in Condor Systems Inc. of San Jose San Jose, city, United States San Jose (sănəzā`, săn hōzā`), city (1990 pop. 782,248), seat of Santa Clara co., W central Calif.; founded 1777, inc. 1850. . Terms were not disclosed. Whittaker, which is carrying about $145 million in debt on its books, is trying to dispose of To determine the fate of; to exercise the power of control over; to fix the condition, application, employment, etc. of; to direct or assign for a use. See also: Dispose other units, including two big recent acquisitions, and it is possible the whole company could eventually be sold, said Charles Barrantes, Whittaker's chief financial officer. ``We're looking at all our options in terms of selling assets, which includes the company itself,'' he said. Whittaker makes fluid control and fire safety systems for aerospace and industrial applications, and remote access and data networking products and systems. Defense electronics accounted for 15 percent to 20 percent of the aerospace systems revenue, Barrantes said. About 100 employees work at the unit, which will continue to be based in the Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. area but probably at a new location, said David Klinger, vice president for advanced program planning at privately held Condor. The company's products include search and navigation, and radio and television equipment. ``Part of our growth strategy is acquisitions and there is an overlap in terms of customers and products so it's a good fit,'' Klinger said of the deal. It also helps Whittaker shed debt incurred through two big acquisitions. In 1995 Whittaker, bought Hughes LAN (Local Area Network) A communications network that serves users within a confined geographical area. The "clients" are the user's workstations typically running Windows, although Mac and Linux clients are also used. Systems from Hughes Electronics for $32.5 million. Last year, it bought Xyplex Inc. from Raytheon Corp. for $117.5 million. Those deals put Whittaker into the communications business but they have not been such a good fit for the aerospace business. They also helped put the company awash in red ink red ink Health administration A popular term for financial losses. Cf in the Black. . The loss for the quarter which ended July 31 equaled $2.43 per share. It compares to a loss of $5.9 million, or 54 cents per share Cents per share The amount of a mutual fund's dividend or capital gains distributions that a shareholder will receive for each share owned. , in the year-ago third quarter. Revenue was $48.6 million vs. $62.2 million. The 1997 third-quarter loss includes one-time and nonoperational charges totaling $18.5 million, related in part to the earlier acquisitions. ``Operationally, our core commercial aerospace business continues to perform well with sales again increasing over the prior quarter. With the expectation that we will accomplish our debt-reduction plan by the end of this year, we look forward to a focused company in a strong market cycle for our 1998 fiscal year and beyond,'' Joseph F. Alibrandi, company chairman and chief executive officer, said. Donald H. Newman, an analyst at Ladenburg, Thalmann in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , was not quite as optimistic. ``The numbers look awful. I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. what keeps the stock price up,'' he said. CAPTION(S): Chart Chart: (Color) MOVING UP Share of Simi Valley-based Whittaker Corp. have increased despite continued losses, including third-quarter results announced Friday. Source: Bloomberg News Daily News |
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