Astrocom Announces First Quarter 2000 Results.Business Editors MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 16, 2000 Astrocom Corporation (OTCBB OTCBB See OTC Bulletin Board (OTCBB). :ATCC ATCC American Type Culture Collection, see there ) today announced the results for the first quarter 2000. Net sales Net Sales The amount a seller receives from the buyer after costs associated with the sale are deducted. Notes: This amount is calculated by subtracting the following items from gross sales: merchandise returned for credit, allowances for damaged or missing goods, freight for the first quarter 2000 decreased 64% to $192,014 from $529,302 for the same period last year. The net loss for the first quarter was $(408,500) or $(0.02) per share, versus a loss of $(235,390) or $(0.02) per share for the first quarter of 1999. The continued decrease in sales was due to a decrease in demand from a few significant customers and a slowdown from all customers for the existing product lines. To counter this trend, the company is continuing new product development in line with the niche market A niche market also known as a target market is a focused, targetable portion (subset) of a market sector. By definition, then, a business that focuses on a niche market is addressing a need for a product or service that is not being addressed by mainstream providers. strategy that was initiated nine months ago. In addition, training of the majority of our new Manufacturers' Representatives has been completed and we look forward to them becoming productive in the coming months. The gross profit margins Gross profit margin Gross profit divided by sales, which is equal to each sales dollar left over after paying for the cost of goods sold. gross profit margin A measure calculated by dividing gross profit by net sales. decreased to 17% in the first quarter of 2000 from 29% for the same period last year. This decrease is due to the lower sales volume and resulting increase in labor and overhead as a percentage of sales. Gross margins will continue to be impacted by sales volume, product mix and distribution channel used. Operating expenses Operating expenses The amount paid for asset maintenance or the cost of doing business, excluding depreciation. Earnings are distributed after operating expenses are deducted. for the first quarter 2000 increased 15% over the same period last year. Selling and administrative expenses increased 21.7% to $298,277 from $245,071 for the first quarter of 1999. Administrative expenses decreased slightly because of reduced reliance on outside professional services (job) professional services - A department of a supplier providing consultancy and programming manpower for the supplier's products. . Sales and marketing expenses increased by 103%, due to increased sales activity and training of the network of Manufacturers' Representatives. Research and development expenses increased 4.4% to $146,918 in the first quarter of 2000 from $140,724 during the same period in 1999; the Company expects research and development expenses to increase in future quarters as we further expand new product development. "While we are disappointed in the sales volume for the first quarter, we continue to be optimistic op·ti·mist n. 1. One who usually expects a favorable outcome. 2. A believer in philosophical optimism. op that the steps we are taking will result in improvements in the second half of 2000," said Ron Thomas, Astrocom's President and Chief Executive Officer. "The inverse multiplexer An inverse multiplexer (often abbreviated to "inverse mux" or "imux") allows a data stream to be broken into multiple lower data rate communications links. An inverse multiplexer differs from a demultiplexer in that each of the low rate links coming from it is related to the other family of products that we are just beginning to ship in the second quarter and the HDSL See DSL. HDSL - High bit-rate Digital Subscriber Line 2 product that is in development, coupled with the additional sales channel efforts, are expected to have a positive impact in the last half of the year." Astrocom Corporation develops, manufactures, markets and services electronic devices which address key areas of wide area data, voice and video communications networks. This press release may contain forward-looking statements that project or estimate future events. Any statements that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. These statements involve various risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from historical results or those currently projected. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. This release should be read in conjunction with the Company's most recent SEC filings.
Astrocom Corporation
Selected Financial Information
Quarter Ended March 31,
2000 1999
---------------- ----------------
Net Sales $192,014 $529,302
Net Income (Loss) $(408,500) $(235,390)
Net Income (Loss) per Share $(0.02) $(0.02)
Weighted Average Shares Outstanding 20,313,831 14,999,161
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