DALSA Reports Record Revenues of $54.6 Million and $0.20 EPS in Q1 2008

DALSA Corporation (TSX: DSA), an international leader in high performance digital imaging and semiconductors, today reported revenues of $54.6 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2008, and net income of $3.8 million or $0.20 per share, diluted. The following table summarizes the key results for the first quarter of 2008 and compares them to the same quarter of 2007.


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Quarterly Comparisons
(In millions of dollars,
 except per share amounts)             Q1, 2008      Q1, 2007      Increase
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Total Revenues                            $54.6         $45.3         20.6%
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Total Net Income                           $3.8          $0.2       1481.3%
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Earnings Per Share (diluted)              $0.20         $0.01       1499.4%
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Gross Margin %                            43.5%         40.1%     3.4p.p.(i)
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Order Backlog at March 31                 $75.8         $74.5          1.7%
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Cash Flow From Operations                  $6.7          $0.7        857.1%
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(i) percentage points

"By just about every measure, Q1 was a very successful quarter for DALSA," said Brian Doody, Chief Executive Officer of DALSA Corporation. "We saw shipments increase significantly across the board, and for the first time in our history we exceeded $50 million in quarterly revenues - by a very healthy margin. I am pleased to report that we are delivering on our commitment to return our core operations to their traditional levels of profitability. Our efforts in the second and third quarter of 2007 have led both our Digital Imaging and Semiconductor businesses to a greater than 10% return on sales in the quarter. Of course, the credit for this strong comeback goes to the DALSA employees, managers, and executives world-wide who have helped me in making this return to revenue growth and improved profitability a reality."

In the first quarter, Digital Imaging revenues were $31.7 million, up 32.1% from the first quarter of last year. The increase is due to a rebound in demand across all product lines, but particularly in the Asia/Pacific region where we are seeing continued strong demand from flat panel display and machine vision end markets. Standard product gross margins were 51.6%, up 0.6 percentage points from the same period last year. Despite the impact of $1.1 million in restructuring charges relating to the substantial completion of the divestiture of the Colorado Springs operations, net earnings in the Digital Imaging business more than doubled to $3.2 million. The division exited the quarter with a strong order backlog of $28.0 million.

Revenues in our Semiconductor business were $22.5 million, up 9.1% from the first quarter of 2007. MEMS revenues in the quarter increased almost 40% to $7.5 million and were a significant contributor to the overall increase in revenues in the division. Standard product margins were 36.4%, up 5.7 percentage points compared to the same quarter last year, and were fueled by higher revenues, improved product mix, and improved yield. Gross margins also benefited from a $0.5 million business interruption payment received in the first quarter relating to the equipment failure that occurred in our Bromont facility in the third quarter last year. Net income in the Semiconductor Business was $2.5 million, and the backlog at the end of the quarter was $47.8 million.

In the Digital Cinema business unit, revenues in the first quarter were $0.4 million. The majority of the revenues came from the rental of HD/SD equipment; however, Origin rentals also contributed to revenues. HD/SD rentals suffered in the quarter due to a delayed impact of the writer's strike in the industry, which was resolved late in the period. The Company's success during the quarter with the use of the Origin cinematography camera on the upcoming James Bond film is expected to increase awareness of the technology in the industry.

Subsequent to the end of the quarter, the Company's board of directors authorized management to seek out strategic partnership opportunities for the Digital Cinema business. The objective of the board and management in this endeavour is to enhance the adoption rate of DALSA's product offerings in the market through the financial and industry support that a well positioned strategic partner can offer. The Company has engaged Genuity Capital Markets to assist management in identifying potential partners with the goal of completing a transaction before year end.