Datametrics Reports Loss of $1.3 Million for Year

Chatsworth-based Datametrics, a manufacturer of printers for the military, reported a $1.3-million loss on a 2% decline in sales for the fiscal year ended Oct. 31. The company’s loss on $13.25 million in sales was a reversal from a profit of $1.4 million, or 42 cents a share, the year before.

Datametrics blamed the loss largely on the unusually high expenses it incurred while trying to obtain defense contracts.

Datametrics’ president, Garland S. White, said the company won three of the five defense contracts it sought, and still is pursuing the other two. Meanwhile, he said, the company has been cutting costs sharply and looking for working capital. On Oct. 31, current assets were $4 million and current liabilities were $5.8 million.

For the fourth quarter, Datametrics lost $687,000, or 20 cents a share, down from net income of $623,000, or 18 cents a share, during the same period the year before. Sales were $2.6 million, down 38% from the previous year’s fourth quarter.

Keet Johnson, the company’s chief financial officer, said the weaker performance resulted from manufacturing problems that included material shortages. He also cited the company’s injection of $280,000 into reserves to cover the costs of disposing of an unused building and possible inventory write-downs, which are accounting adjustments made to reflect the declining value of an asset.