Acterna Corp. reports record sales - Company Financial Information - Statistical Data Included

Communications News,  July, 2001  by Sean Kelly

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In last month's cover story, Acterna CEO and President John Peeler noted, "We have this diversity that puts us in a good position to go forward through some challenging times." Apparently, he was right on target.

Acterna Corp., Acterna's parent company, released its fourth quarter financial results shortly after that story was published--and the news was good. The Burlington, MA-based provider of test and management solutions for optical transport, access and cable networks reported record sales and orders for its fiscal 2001 fourth quarter and full fiscal year ended March 31, 2001. Acterna, formed a year ago through the merger of TTC and Wavetek Wandel Goltermann, is the chief holding of Acterna Corp.

Net sales from continuing operations for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2001 of $330 million rose 24% from pro forma sales of $267 million for the same period last year. Acterna's profit from operations before acquisition-related integration expense was $54 million for the fourth quarter, an increase of 67% from a year ago.

Fiscal 2001 net sales from continuing operations on a pro forma basis were $1.27 billion, an increase of 27% from the prior year. Pro forma profit from operations before acquisition-related integration expense was $192 million, up 42% from a year ago.

"Fourth quarter sales were driven by a 96% increase in optical transport, reflecting the continued upgrade and expansion of fiber-optic networks around the world by large telecommunications service providers," says Ned Lautenbach, chairman and CEO of Acterna Corp. Optical transport product sales, which were $130 million, represented more than 43% of total sales of communications test and management solutions.

"The strength of our optical business contributed to record-high orders in the fourth quarter of $381 million, an increase of 8%," Lautenbach adds. "Our orders exceeded our shipments."

He expects the good news to continue. "Robust orders for our optical transport products and the significant backlog gives us visibility into our first quarter, which is historically our weakest of the year," he says. "We expect sales will grow about 5% to 7% from a year ago to $310 to $315 million, reflecting the current softness in the cable and access areas and the comparison to an unusually strong first quarter last year."

Not bad at a time when so many technology companies are wringing their hands over the economic climate.

COPYRIGHT 2001 Nelson Publishing
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group