NEENAH, WI – Plexus Corp. reported first-quarter revenue of $381 million, in line with previous estimates. The company warned that previously expected military program ramps were not materializing as expected.

For the quarter ended Dec. 30, the company reported profits of $15 million and gross margins of 10.4%.

The EMS firm guided for second quarter revenue of $345 million to $355 million, with EPS, excluding restructuring charges. For the fiscal 2008, Plexus forecast revenue of $1.74 billion.

Plexus revised its full fiscal year revenue growth target to 8% to 12% over fiscal 2006, from 15 to 18% previously.

In a press release, president and CEO Dean Foate said, “As we look to Q2, we are experiencing softness with a number of customers across all of our market sectors. We continue to have poor visibility into the decision-making process concerning potential follow-on orders for a large defense contract.

“We expect revenue growth to resume in the second half of our fiscal year,” he said.

The firm expects a new facility in Malaysia to be operational in the March quarter, and an expansion in China to be completed by September. It is also upgrading manufacturing equipment in Mexico and at some sites in the U.S.

By sector, wireline/networking revenue was 42% of sales, up from 38% sequentially. Wireless infrastructure rose 1 point to 9%, medical 2 points to 27%. Industrial/commercial fell 2 points to 16%, and defense/security/aerospace dropped 5 points to 11%.

The top 10 customers comprised 60% of sales during the quarter, up 1 point from the September quarter. Juniper Networks made up 19% of sales, and General Electric was 13% of sales. Cash flow used in operations was approximately $7.8 million, and capex was $14 million. Inventory turns slipped 0.5 turns sequentially, to 5.8 turns. Days inventory rose 5 days, to 62 days.

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