Bell Micro Issues Preliminary Numbers for Second Quarter

Electronic News, July 9, 2001

Heidi Elliott

Rob Spiegel

Richard Wilson

SAN JOSE-BASED BELL MICROPRODUCTS INC. LAST WEEK released preliminary results for its second quarter, which ended June 30. It expects sales for the quarter to be approximately $450 million, with a net loss from operations of approximately $1.8 million, or 10 cents per share. Expected sales for the quarter ending June 30 increased 18 percent over last year's revenues of $382 million and down 16 percent sequentially. The expected operating loss per share for the second quarter compares with earnings per share of 25 cents in the second quarter of 2000 and 1 cent in the first quarter of 2001. The company expects to report final results on July 24. Bell Micro (nasdaq: BELM) attributes about half of the sequential sales decline to declines in component average selling prices. In fact, prices of some volume commodity products declined approximately 15 percent during the quarter. In making the announcement, Don Bell, president and chief executive officer, said, "We were pleased that storage systems and related soluti ons products were relatively strong in the quarter. However, demand for commodity semiconductors, disk drives and peripherals were disappointing. Moreover, the normal strength expected in the later part of the quarter did not materialize, with lower-than-planned sales in all geographies."