NORTH BILLERICA, MA - BTU International, a maker of thermal processing equipment, swung back to profitability despite lower quarterly sales.

Net sales for the quarter ended Dec. 31 were $13.6 million, down from $15.4 million sequentially but up from $7.8 million a year ago. Net income was $70,000, versus a net loss of $2.4 million sequentially and a net loss of $1.6 million last year. BTU took a one-time restructuring charge of $1.6 million in the third quarter.

For the year net sales nearly doubled to $54.6 million, versus $28.5 million. The net loss for was $4.2 million, including $1.6 million in charges. BTU lost $6.8 million in 2003.

In a press statement, chairman and CEO Paul van der Wansem said, "The general trend in capital spending levels in many of the markets we serve has been cautious, with an indication of growth in Asia and Europe. The operations in China are proceeding according to plan."

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FRANKLIN, MA - February 16- Frost & Sullivan has named Speedline Technologies its 2005 Surface Mount Technology Company of the Year, citing the firm's "tremendous success, focus on process expertise and excellence in operations, competitive strategy and industry leadership."

Speedline is a maker of capital equipment for electronics manufacturers.  The company's "dramatic turnaround and performance over the past two years," despite tough overall economic times for the industry, was key in the selection, according to Keith Robinson, industry manager of F&S. 

Speedline's process knowledge expertise, especially in lead-free manufacturing, its customer service and its used equipment programs were cited as additional factors in the award.

"Speedline provides increased value to its customers through its innovative product offerings and close work with their customers' R&D teams to refine the emerging lead-free manufacturing process," said Robinson. "Speedline treats customer service as a separate business and cross-trains its customer support team to work with various types of equipment," said Robinson.

The award will be officially presented to Speedline at a banquet on May 25 in Naples, FL.

REDMOND, WA - Data I/O today reported fourth-quarter revenues dropped to $5.8 million and the firm posted a net loss of $584,000 on seasonality and customer postponements.

Last year the company, which supplies programming solutions, showed a net profit of $337,000 on sales of $6.6 million.

Gross margins slipped one point to 53.8%.

The company took a restructuring charge of $60,000 in the fourth quarter.

As of Dec. 31 cash and short-term investments were $6.6 million. The company is debt-free.

For the year, Data I/O reported revenues of $27.3 million, up 10.6% from revenues in 2003. The net loss was $92,000, compared with net income of $1.3 million a year ago.

"The fourth quarter financial results reflect the seasonality of our customers' businesses as some of our customers delayed shipments until the first quarter of 2005," said Fred Hume, president and CEO, in a statement. "Our disappointments in these delays were compounded by the fact that a major shipment to China was also delayed in customs for over two weeks."

Data I/O guided for first quarter revenues of $7 million and gross margins of 54%. "January revenues provide a good start for the first quarter, and we remain confident that 2005 will be a good year," Hume said.