BEI ELECTRONICS REPORTS FISCAL SECOND-QUARTER RESULTS

    SAN FRANCISCO, May 3 /PRNewswire/ -- BEI Electronics, Inc. (NASDAQ: BEII) reported earnings per share of $0.20 for the second quarter of fiscal 1993 compared with $0.25 per share reported in the second quarter of fiscal 1992.  Net income was $1.4 million versus $1.7 million a year earlier.  Sales were $36.2 million for the second quarter ended April 3, 1993, a decline from the $41.2 million reported in the comparable quarter which ended March 28, 1992.
    Peter G. Paraskos, president and chief executive officer, said: "During the second quarter, our industrial and commercial businesses achieved improved sales and earnings over both the prior-year period and the previous quarter.  Nevertheless, we continued to experience the effects of a shrinking U.S. defense budget, as well as problems with government supplied materials.  Shipments to defense customers declined from the year-ago period."
    "Partially offsetting this was a significant increase, as well as a change in the timing, in royalty income from a technology licensing agreement for the second quarter of fiscal 1993, as compared to fiscal 1992, when the royalty payment was reported in the company's third quarter."
    "During the second quarter, we acquired Zinnanti Surgical Instruments, Inc., a privately held marketer of products for minimally invasive surgery.  Zinnanti focuses its product line on the fields of obstetrics and gynecology, disciplines which continue to record steady growth," Paraskos said.  "The addition of Zinnanti to our BEI Medical Systems subsidiary should further enhance and accelerate our position as designers and suppliers of products utilizing advanced medical technologies.  But the ongoing front-end investment associated with building the medical systems business also continues to contribute to a lower operating margin for the company."
    "The growth of our Medical Systems business, through the acquisitions of Meditron Devices and Zinnanti, is the result of management's plan to expand our historical business:  the design, manufacture and marketing of a wide variety of specialized sensors, motors, control systems and components for use in aerospace, industrial and military applications as well as defense ordnance and systems."
    Second-quarter results reflect a temporary decline in HYDRA-70 shipments.  With the award to BEI of the highly competitive procurement in fiscal 1992 of the U.S. Army HYDRA-70 Rocket System contract, BEI Electronics Defense Systems subsidiary is now required to satisfy significantly increased requirements for documentation, first article acceptance testing and requalification, and upgraded quality control system requirements.  In addition, the subsidiary had to replace some former government suppliers (no longer in operation) with in-house production, the start-up of which has lengthened the process of qualification.  "While we expect to improve the efficiency and quality of our production process, as a result of this effort," Paraskos said, "the near-term effect has been to delay shipments.  We are committing the necessary resources to obtain early resolution of these primarily procedural upgrade requirements.  Importantly, bookings and backlog for the HYDRA-70 Rocket System remain strong, and we expect to be certified during the current quarter and to resume shipments of these products."
    SIX-MONTH RESULTS
    For the first six months of fiscal 1993, earnings per share were $0.31 compared with $0.40 in the first half of fiscal 1992.  Net income was $2.1 million versus $2.7 million last year.  Sales totaled $68.5 million as compared with $75.2 million in the first half of fiscal 1992.
                 BEI ELECTRONICS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
               Condensed Consolidated Statement of Income
       For the second quarter and six months ended April 3, 1993
                           and March 28, 1992
           (Amounts in millions, except per share; unaudited)
                      For the quarter ended: For the six months ended:
                       April 3,   March 28,    April 3,   March 28,
                        1993        1992        1993        1992
    Net sales         $36,213     $41,189     $68,474     $75,214
    Net income after
     taxes             $1,357      $1,710      $2,068      $2,726
    Earnings per
     common share       $0.20       $0.25       $0.31       $0.40
    Weighted average
     no. of shares
     outstanding        6,779       6,895       6,752       6,873
     -0-                        5/3/93
    /CONTACT:  Larry Parrish, vice president and CFO, BEI Electronics, Inc., 415-956-4477/
    (BEII)

CO: BEI Electronics, Inc. ST: California IN: CPR SU: ERN

DH-ML -- DE004 -- 3619 05/03/93 09:28 EDT