XYLAN BEATS EXPECTATIONS IN FOURTH QUARTER.Byline: Deborah Adamson Daily News Staff Writer Xylan xylan /xy·lan/ (zi´lan) any of a group of pentosans composed of xylose residues; major structural constituents of wood, straw, and bran. Corp., whose stock price lost 46 percent of its value in 1997 partly because of its financial ties to Asian markets, beat analysts' estimates on its fourth-quarter and year-end earnings, the company said after the markets closed Thursday. Officials with Xylan, a Calabasas maker of computer network switches, said revenues rose despite the financial crisis in Asia because the company boosted sales in North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. and Europe. ``All in all, it was a very good quarter for them,'' said C.B. Lee, a senior analyst at Sutro & Co. in San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden . He expects the stock price to hit the $30 range within a year. Xylan shares rose 11/16 to close at 16-1/4 on Thursday. Lee said 18 percent of Xylan's revenues in the fourth quarter came from the Asia-Pacific region, down from 25 percent in the third quarter. South Korea alone took up 6 percent last quarter, down from 10 percent in the third quarter, Lee said. However, North American North American named after North America. North American blastomycosis see North American blastomycosis. North American cattle tick see boophilusannulatus. sales rose 28 percent quarter to quarter and revenues from Europe by 34 percent. ``We turned in a wonderful fourth quarter and the first quarter (of fiscal 1998) is looking very good,'' said company spokesman Douglas Hill Douglas Arthur Hill (April 6, 1935 to June 21, 2007) was a Canadian science fiction author, editor and reviewer. He was born in Brandon, Manitoba, the son of a train driver, and raised in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. . In addition, field-test units of its new line of small switches - called OmniStac - started shipping in December with an official debut scheduled for March. Hill said Xylan expects $3 million in revenues from OmniStac for the first quarter. For the fourth quarter of fiscal 1997, revenue rose by 55 percent to $64.2 million from a year ago. Net income was $6.6 million (14 cents a diluted di·lute tr.v. di·lut·ed, di·lut·ing, di·lutes 1. To make thinner or less concentrated by adding a liquid such as water. 2. To lessen the force, strength, purity, or brilliance of, especially by admixture. share), a gain of 30 percent. Xylan beat the average analysts' estimate of 12 cents a share. For the year, revenue rose 64 percent to $210.8 million while net income surged 58 percent to $24.1 million (52 cents). Results include a tax benefit of $4 million or 8 cents a share. Taking out the one-time gain, earnings would have been 44 cents, which beat the average analysts' estimate of 42 cents. Xylan also announced Thursday a stock buyback Stock buyback A corporation's purchase of its own outstanding stock, usually in order to raise the company's earnings per share. stock buyback See buyback. program of up to 2 million common shares for its employee stock benefit plans. ``We think the price is too low and so we're happy to go out and buy some stock,'' Hill said. Also, ``in high technology, one of the ways you compensate very high-quality employees is through a stock option program.'' The company preferred to buy back its own shares rather than issue new shares and dilute di·lute v. To reduce a solution or mixture in concentration, quality, strength, or purity, as by adding water. adj. Thinned or weakened by diluting. the holdings of existing shareholders, Hill added. Xylan, whose shares more than doubled on its first day of trading to close at 58-3/8 in March 1996, is barely over its 52-week low of 12-3/8. |
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