Cushman Electronics Posts $261,000 1st-Quarter Loss

Cushman Electronics, which in the past month has laid off more than a quarter of its work force and slashed management salaries by 10%, has reported a first-quarter loss and said it expects losses to continue throughout most of its 1985 fiscal year.

The Newport Beach-based radio and telephone testing equipment manufacturer reported a $261,000 loss in its first quarter, blaming delays in new product introductions. For the three-month period ended Dec. 31, the company had sales of $2.4 million, 14% below those in the same period a year earlier, Cushman reported Thursday. The loss compares with a $2,000 profit in the year-ago period.

At the same time, Cushman also belatedly announced that 28% of its work force was laid off and that management salaries were cut by 10% in early January. According to a company spokeswoman, about 40 employees were laid off, leaving Cushman with fewer than 130 workers.

Despite those measures, the company expects to operate in the red because of continued slow sales of its new products. The company said, however, that the losses are expected to shrink in each quarter, with profits possible by next September, when its fiscal year ends.

During the last several months, Cushman has introduced several products, including a system for testing cellular radios, but, the company has acknowledged, it has had difficulty manufacturing some of the products and is spending substantial amounts to solve production problems.