Comarco Inc.
Comarco Inc., which develops computer technology and provides engineering support services for the defense and aerospace industries, on Monday reported the best three months in its 25-year history, with net income of $439,000 on revenues of $8.3 million for the calendar fourth quarter.
The results represent an 18% increase in profits from $368,000 earned in the same period in 1983 and a 28% gain in revenues from $6.5 million.
For the full year, Comarco reported net income of $1.6 million, up 43% from $1.1 million in 1983. 1984 revenues rose 32%, to $29.6 million from $22.3 million.
Jim Quibodeaux, the Anaheim company’s chief financial officer, said the gains reflected yearlong growth bolstered by work on an $88-million, five-year contract from the Navy to help test the reliability and longevity of air-to-air missiles at the China Lake Weapons Station in the Mojave Desert.
Quibodeaux said the Navy job was Comarco’s biggest revenue producer last year, providing $14 million, up from about $9 million in 1983, the year the contract was awarded. Revenues from the contract are expected to grow this year, he said.
Comarco also has seen expanded demand for its computerized Navy equipment maintenance program, a national network that helps the Navy locate replacement parts, Quibodeaux said. And, to a smaller degree, he said, the company’s revenues were boosted in 1984 by the increasing success of the company’s Computer Aided Mission Planning System, designed to help Air Force pilots avoid gunfire when flying into enemy territory.
Besides increasing revenues, Comarco has improved its profit margin by improving overall efficiency, Quibodeaux said.
New and expanded contracts, he said, have caused Comarco to grow from 500 employees in January of 1984 to about 650 today. The company’s projections call for continued increases in revenues and employees of 10% to 15% a year, he said.
To finance Comarco’s growth and to pay off its short-term bank debt, Quibodeaux said, the company is seeking approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission to sell $10 million worth of convertible debentures. He said the company hopes to issue the debentures in April.
