DATAMETRICS POSTS SALES DECLINE, $3.1 MILLION LOSS; CEO SAYS FORTUNES ARE IMPROVING.Byline: Enrique Rivero Daily News Staff Writer Datametrics Corp. said Tuesday that it lost $3.1 million last year on sales nearly 13 percent lower than in the prior year, prompting the company's independent auditors Independent Auditor An external auditor with a certified public accounting designation that qualifies him or her to provide an auditor's report. Notes: These auditors aren't affiliated with the company being audited. to issue a ``going concern'' opinion for the company. But the company's top official and a Wall Street analyst who follows Datametrics both said the company has rebounded after three consecutive years in the red. For example, the 24 cent per diluted share loss for 1997 was considerably less than the $17.4 million, or $1.39 per share, loss from 1996. Revenues for fiscal 1997 ending in October were $16.8 million compared with $19.2 million in 1996. Chairman and chief executive officer Daniel Ginns said the company has made considerable progress lifting itself from the red and will continue improving through 1998. ``There's one very simple way to do that and that is to perform and continue to perform,'' he said. Ginns blamed the bulk of the loss on sales the company had ``inherited'' in 1996, when Datametrics underwent a major restructuring, and which earned little or no profits. ``That lost business that we were obliged to conduct was cleared out and finished in 1997,'' he said. In addition, the company took some nonrecurring charges such as those associated with the recent move of its manufacturing operations Manufacturing operations concern the operation of a facility, as opposed to maintenance, supply and distribution, health, and safety, emergency response, human resources, security, information technology and other infrastructural support organizations. to Orlando, Fla., he said. Sales also were hurt by the company's decision to discontinue its CYMax product line and develop a new line of printers; loss of a large but marginally profitable program; and refusing to accept orders with substantial development costs, the company said. Datametrics also reported that the auditors had taken exception to its listing of nearly $2.1 million in spare and repair parts inventory Noun 1. parts inventory - an inventory of replacement parts inventory, stock list - a detailed list of all the items in stock as current assets Current Assets Appearing on a company's balance sheet, it represents cash, accounts receivable, inventory, marketable securities, prepaid expenses, and other assets that can be converted to cash within one year. rather than noncurrent assets. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Ginns, the company's prior accounting firm had allowed Datametrics to list that inventory as current assets. The company in 1997 switched to Deloitte & Touche LLP LLP - Lower Layer Protocol , which asked that Datametrics list them as fixed assets fixed assets npl → activo sg fijo fixed assets npl → immobilisations fpl fixed assets fix npl → . ``We feel very strongly that we're correct,'' Ginns said. Deloitte & Touche would not comment. Analyst Bruce Galloway, managing director for Burnham Securities 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 , said this could be the turnaround year for Datametrics. The management team now in place is a good one and the company has a strong backlog of orders, he said. ``These turnarounds always take longer than you expect,'' he said. Datametrics stock fell -1/4 to close Tuesday at 1 7/16. |
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