Circuits Assembly Online Magazine - News

News

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 22 -- Celeritek shareholders Thursday approved the sale of its the company's defense electronics business to a subsidiary of Teledyne Technologies for $33 million in cash.

Celeritek's defense electronics business designs andmanufactures gallium arsenide-based RF and microwave components and subassemblies for electronics warfare, radar and other military applications. Teledyne intends to relocate the business from Santa Clara, CA, and consolidate it with Teledyne Microwave in Mountain View, CA.

The division had sales of $19.7 million for its fiscal year ended March 31. Teledyne expects this acquisition to be neutral to earnings in 2004.

Ashburn, VA - Zestron, Kester, Heller Industries, Trek Industries and cleaning expert Dr. William Kenyon are hosting a one-day workshop in Tampa. Topics include cleaning, lead-free and its potential long-term risks. The workshop will take place Nov. 9, at the Embassy Suites Hotel - Airport/Westshore in Tampa.

Attendees can learn essentials on material technologies and understand the actual impact of lead-free on subsequent process steps such as cleaning or the climatic reliability of electronic assemblies.

To register, visit http://www.zestron.com/leadfree_tampa/home.htm.

For more information, contact Danny Chaplow: (703) 589-1198 ext. 110.

SCOTTSDALE, AZ, Oct. 25 -- The IC market will grow 29% in 2004, buoyed by high demand for PC applications, a research firm said today.

The microprocessor market will hit nearly $30 billion, 90% of it coming from devices for computing systems, according to IC Insights in its monthly report.

Moreover, flash sales will reach $15.6 billion by year-end. up 33%, following a 51% gain in 2003. DSPs is expected to grow 26%, to $7.7 billion, the firm said.

London, Oct. 21 - An investor group led by Francisco Group and Shah Capital Partners has purchased C-MAC MicroTechnology from Solectron Corp. Terms were not announced. Solectron had acquired C-MAC for $2.7 billion in August 2001 during its acquisition spree.

C-MAC designs and manufactures electronics products, typically for harsh environments. It has design and manufacturing facilities in the U.K., France, Belgium and Canada, where it performs thick-film printing on ceramic and other substrates, and builds surface mount and other advanced assemblies.

The new C-MAC board includes Duncan Ralph, chief executive; Andrew Gray and David Stanton of Francisco Partners, and Ajay Shah of Shah Capital Partners.

ESD Assn Offers Webinar to Demystify Standard

If you are interested in developing an ESD program that meets the criteria of ANSI/ESD S20.20, the ESD Association is offering an online course to help. Ron Gibson, chairman of the ESDA Standards Committee and co-author of the ANSI/ESD S20.20, will facilitate the program scheduled for Nov. 17, 2004, at 1 p.m., EDT.

The 60-minute presentation will include an explanation of criteria required for an S20.20 compliant facility; discussion of issues including grounding, packaging, training and documentation; and a brief question and answer session. Cost is $95.

For more information, contact (315) 339-6937; info@esda.org.

ANGLETON, TX, Oct. 21 -- Benchmark Electronics saw third-quarter profits rise 40% as sales jumped by $50 million.

The EMS maker said September quarter earnings were $18 million, up from $12.9 million last year, a new third-quarter high. Revenue was $505 million, up from $455 million.

Analysts forecast sales of $496 million for the quarter.

Operating margins rose to 4.8% and inventories were up $13 million, to $290 million, the company said.

Benchmark guided for fourth-quarter sales of $505 million to $530 million.

Celestica Reports GAAP Loss on $2.2b in Revenue
10-21-2004

by Mike Buetow

TORONTO, Oct. 21 -- Celestica Inc. today said September quarter revenue was $2.2 billion, up 33% from last year and in line with previous guidance, despite lower telecom demand.

The EMS maker reported a GAAP net loss of $22.3 million, includes pretax restructuring charges of $47.7 million, including $16.6 million for inventory writedowns and a $12 million gain associated with the sale of the Power Systems business.

Last year Celestica reported a GAAP net loss of $65 million, including restructuring and other charges of $49.1 million.

"Despite lower demand this quarter from some of our largest communications and IT customers, we continued to expand margins, reduce SG&A spending, improve customer diversity, act on unprofitable or non-core activities and generate healthy cash flow from operations," said chief executive Steve Delaney, in a press statement.

Delaney called end-market demand "less stable" than earlier in the year. The company anticipates December quarter revenue in the range of $2.1 billion to $2.3 billion, with a softening in end-market demand balancing normal seasonality.

In a research note, Deutsche Bank said it remains cautious on the sector, including Celestica, due to slowing demand and aggressive pricing. "Celestica`s fourth quarter guidance speaks volumes to the anemic end-market environment (flat quarter-on-quarter in the [usuallyl] seasonally strong fourth quarter," the firm said.

Year-to-date Celestica's revenue has risen 35% to $6.51 billion and the GAAP net loss is $56.2.

Celestica said it has ceased creating its own reference designs and will exit its channel distribution activities for these products. Said Delaney: "We remain committed to providing enterprise-wide server solutions to our customers, including product design services, manufacturing, logistics services, and after-market services".

LOUISVILLE, Oct. 21 -- Sypris Solutions' third-quarter revenue increased 72% to a record $118.5 million, up from $68.9 million a year ago. Net income rose to $3.5 million, versus $700,000, for the manufacturer of industrial and electronics products. The firm's chief executive issued a cautious near-term outlook on orders for electronics assemblies.

For the nine months ended Sept. 30, the company reported revenue increased 53% to a record $303.7 million and net income increased 87% to $8.9 million.

The firm's electronics group has sales of $40 million in the third quarter compared to $46.5 million last year and $37.7 million in Q2. Gross profit was $6.8 million, down from $8.2 million in 2003 and $7.5 million sequentially. The company cited a change in mix reflecting increased sales of lower margin circuit card assemblies and reduced sales of higher margin products to certain government agencies.

Year to date electronics revenue is $118.6 million, down from $127.7 million. Gross profit is $22.2 million compared to $25.2 million for the prior year period.

"Net orders for our Electronics Group declined during the quarter to $33.1 million, but backlog remained solid at $124 million," said Jeffrey T. Gill. "In the short-term, we believe the outlook for growth in this segment of our business will remain somewhat constrained at least until such time as the delays in program funding to accommodate our current military operations are successfully resolved. For the long-term, we remain optimistic that we are well-positioned on a series of major programs that should contribute to the company's growth."

SAN DIEGO, Oct. 19 -- Tamura H. A. will sell thermal profiling equipment from KIC(www.kicthermal.com), the companies said today.

Tamura (www.tamura-ha.com) is a maker of lead-free reflow ovens and wave-soldering equipment. Jay Hah, GM of Tamura, said in a press statement, "Lead-free production sets stringent demand on the thermal process. The narrow process window requires more capable and stable ovens. The combination of Tamura and KIC [is] an effective formula for electronics manufacturers."

WILSONVILLE, OR, Oct. 21 -- Mentor Graphics today announced third-quarter revenues rose 3% year-on-year to $162 million while cutting its net loss in half, to $6 million.

Separately, the company guided for sales of $205 million in the December quarter.

The GAAP loss was the result of special charges for in-process R&D associated with the acquisition of In Design Automation, Mentor said.

"Although growth in the third quarter was slow, it was primarily due to the timing of major orders," said Wally Rhines, chairman and CEO.

Bookings grew 2% in the quarter although the book-to-bill was below 1.0. Rhines said year-to-date bookings have grown 8% and Mentor expects record fourth-quarter and full-year bookings.

Bookings in the Pacific Rim climbed 20%, while North America was up 5%. Europe slipped 10% and Japan was flat, although the latter's bookings are strong by historical levels.

Forty percent of the company's sales were in the Americas, 30% in Europe, 20% in Japan, and 10% in the Pacific Rim.

Pro forma gross margin was 86%. Gross margin on a GAAP basis was 84%.

Mentor (www.mentor.com) is leading supplier of PCB design tools.

SAN JOSE, Oct. 20 — Cadence Design Systems announced revenue for its third quarter was $302 million, up from $269 million last year.

On a GAAP basis, Cadence realized net income of $20 million, compared to a net loss of $14 million, last year.

Non-GAAP earnings were $52 million, versus $34 million last year.

LONDON, Oct. 7 -- Cookson Group plc today promoted Steve Corbett to chief executive of its Electronics division, replacing Ray Sharpe, who left the company last summer. The company also announced a shakeup in its laminates division.

Corbett was chief executive of Enthone, Cookson's successful chemistries division. He reports to Nick Salmon, chief executive of Cookson Group.

Corbett will oversee Enthone (the most profitable of the Cookson Electronics' business sectors), the Assembly Materials divisional head office and R&D.

Cookson's laminates group, known familiarly as Polyclad Technologies, will continue to report to Salmon. Polyclad is in the midst of a restructuring program, Cookson said.

Corbett joined Cookson Electronics in 1990 and has held a number of senior positions within the Assembly Materials and Chemistry businesses. He has been Chief Executive of Enthone since 2002.

Polyclad, meanwhile, continues to recover from the effects of the global downturn but has returned to profitability, according to Cookson. The division will continue to report to Salmon for the near term.

Joe Santolucito, chief executive of Polyclad, is leaving the company. Cookson named Rick Richesin, Polyclad's COO, as his successor. Richesin joined Polyclad in 1985 and spent six years as managing director of Polyclad Asia in China and Hong Kong.

In a statement, Nick Salmon said Corbett's "broad ranging experience of our markets and businesses, including his firsthand knowledge of Asia-Pacific, will be invaluable in driving the division forward."

HONG KONG, Oct. 12 -- Kingboard Chemical Holdings Ltd. plans to seek a majority stake in Elec & Eltek International Holdings, Dow Jones reported today.

Kingboard, which makes PCBs and laminates, currently owns 27.7% of Elec & Eltek International Holdings. If it succeeds in gaining a majority share in the company, Kingboard will then offer to buy the firm's Singapore-listed Elec & Eltek International Co. Ltd.

Elec & Eltek currently provides boards to Intel and IBM.

Kingboard said the deal will enhance the economies of scale of its PCB as the two companies' business and customers are complementary, Dow Jones reported.

ANAHEIM, CA, Oct. 8, 2004 -- DDi Corp. will lay off up to 175 employees at its Milpitas, CA, manufacturing facility and take cash charges of $1 million as it attempts to lower its costs. The losses will be partially offset by the expected addition of a small number of employees across DDi's other facilities, bringing the total staff reduction to approximately 7% of DDi's worldwide workforce.

Some orders will be moved to DDi facilities in Toronto and Virginia, taking advantage of those plants' lower production costs, said Bruce McMaster, DDi's CEO.

Following the restructuring, the company will continue to employ more than 1,800 people. As a result of the workforce reduction, DDi expects a cash restructuring charge of approximately $1 million to be incurred in the fourth quarter of 2004 and to realize annualized cost savings of between $6 and $7 million.