LightPath Technologies, Inc. announced its sales for the second quarter of fiscal 2002 are projected to be approximately $2.4 million as LightPath experienced deferral of some orders into the third quarter. In response to the general industry downturn and the deferral of several large orders LightPath changed its policy, during the second quarter, to only reflect sales backlog for products which have scheduled shipment dates within 12 months. Based on this change LightPath's sales backlog at December 31, 2001 was approximately $4.2 million.
In addition, LightPath expects to record charges of approximately $9 million to $11 million, primarily for non-cash charges related to impairment of certain intangible assets together with a write-down of certain finished goods inventory. The asset impairment charges relate to the recoverability of the values assigned to certain intangible assets in connection with acquisitions completed in fiscal 2000 and 2001. The values assigned to certain intangibles at acquisition may not be recoverable due to reduced revenue forecasts from those expected at acquisition due to the downturn in the telecom industry.
Robert Ripp, President and Chief Executive Officer of LightPath, stated "While our business clearly has been impacted by the recent trends in the telecommunications sector, we are pleased that our efforts to increase design wins and broaden our customer base are succeeding. We expect our current backlog coverage trends to yield approximately $3.5 million in sales in our fiscal third quarter, with an expectation of modest double digit sequential growth in the subsequent quarter. Also, LightPath is currently undertaking a review of its lines of business with a view to accelerating a path to positive earnings from operations by the fourth quarter of calendar 2002."
LightPath will formally announce its second quarter 2002 financial results before the market opens on January 31, 2002, followed by a conference call at 8:30 a.m. MST (10:30 a.m. EST).
LightPath manufactures proprietary collimator assemblies, GRADIUM glass products and other optical telecommunications products at its headquarters in Albuquerque. The Company's subsidiaries manufacture isolator products utilizing proprietary automation technology in Walnut, CA, and precision molded aspherical optics used in the active telecom components market in Orlando, Florida. Additionally, the Company has a unique and proprietary line of all-glass diffraction gratings (StableSil) for telecom applications as well as a product family of Sol-Gel based waveguides. The Company has 49 U.S. patents, plus 5 more pending, associated with its optical technologies. In addition, various foreign countries have issued a total of 29 patents with 15 patents pending.
For further information, visit www.lightpath.com