Kopin posts 2007 loss of $6.55M, in last delayed filing

TAUNTON – In the year ended Dec. 29, Kopin Corp. (Nasdaq: KOPN) saw its loss triple to $6.55 million, or 10 cents per diluted share, from the year-ago loss of $2.15 million, or 3 cents per share, even as total revenue grew 38.1 percent to a record $98.15 million. But the fourth quarter saw the company turn a profit as sales grew 62.2 percent year-over-year.
Product sales increased 42.9 percent to $94.19 million while research and development revenue shrank 23.7 percent to $3.96 million.
Expenses associated with the recently completed independent review of the company’s past stock-option practices subtracted $1.8 million from Kopin’s bottom line in 2007 and $3.7 million in 2006, the company said. The 2006 results also included a one-time gain of $1.2 million from the sale of 200,000 shares of Micrel common stock, Kopin said.
Its after-market filing – four days before a recently granted 15-day extension period was to end – brings the company up to date on its periodic financial reports. Kopin’s past-due reports for periods from the third quarter of 2006 to the third quarter of 2007, delayed by the stock-option review, were filed on March 18. (READ MORE)
“Our financial results reflect the strong performance of our CyberDisplay product line,” said John C.C. Fan, the company’s president and CEO. “In 2007, our sales of display products for consumer electronics, military and eyewear applications increased to $29.3 million, $15.8 million and $6.3 million, respectively, from $9.0 million, $11.3 million and $3.3 million, respectively, in 2006,” he said.
“Orders for the U.S. Army’s Thermal Weapon Sight II program contributed to the strong fourth-quarter performance of our CyberDisplay business,” Fan added. “TWS II program is now fully underway. We expect the TWS II and other military applications such as the Army’s Enhanced Night Vision Goggle, which is expected to ramp production in the second half of this year, to be significant catalysts for our display business.
“In our commercial display operation, we were surprised by the high level of adoption and demand for our CyberEVF(R) 230K electronic viewfinder, introduced in late 2006 for digital still cameras. The resulting ramp in production was steep,” Fan said.
“We also see expanding opportunities for our display technology in the video eyewear market,” he added. “Eyewear featuring Kopin displays already is available through a variety of outlets, from retail stores and catalogs to airport kiosks and iPod(R) vending machines.” Now, he said, “companies around the world are integrating Kopin’s displays into a range of eyewear designs that combine function and style.
“In January, we announced the world’s smallest transmissive liquid crystal color SVGA display. Development of this new shrink display, which is 45 percent smaller than our currently available SVGA display, was a major technological breakthrough … that will soon enable Kopin to provide a new generation of advanced, high-resolution, smaller form-factor displays for mobile devices.”
For the fourth quarter, Kopin posted a net gain of $285,403, or less than 1 cent per share, compared with its year-ago loss of $2.88 million, or 4 cents per diluted share. Total revenue increased to $28.93 million from the 2006 fourth quarter’s $17.83 million, as product sales grew 59.8 percent to $27.41 million while R&D revenue grew 124.2 percent to $1.52 million.
“In 2006, we embarked on a three-year investment program,” but now, “our capital investments are substantially complete,” Fan said.
“Taking into consideration the current business environment and economic conditions in our markets, we expect full-year 2008 revenues in the range of $105 million to $115 million,” he said.
Kopin Corp. (Nasdaq: KOPN) develops and manufactures telecommunications and digital imaging technologies under the Kopin, CyberDisplay and NanoSemiconductor Co. trademarks. Additional information is available at www.kopin.com.

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