Computer Firm Loss Blamed on Shipping Delay

Faltering a bit in the middle of its major turnaround effort, General Automation Inc. on Tuesday reported a $10,000 loss for its fiscal 1987 second quarter and blamed the slippage on delayed shipments of its new computer line.

In the prior year’s second quarter, the Anaheim company had a profit of $31,000. However, the figures are not directly comparable because of a change in the fiscal year dates. The more recent second period ended Dec. 31 while the previous year’s quarter ended Feb. 1, 1986.

Second-quarter revenue was flat, holding at $9.1 million, about 10% lower than the company had expected to post for the quarter. The company said it was forced to defer about $1 million in sales because manufacturing slowdowns caused it to miss shipping deadlines for its Zebra line of business computer systems.

The company has said that it will make the delayed shipments during the current quarter and that General Automation will be profitable for the third quarter and the full 1987 fiscal year.

“We have come a long way since last year,” said Leonard Mackenzie, chairman and chief executive. “We have introduced our whole . . . Zebra product family, refinanced and restructured the company’s balance sheet and expanded our Zebra sales worldwide. The sales increase would have been much more evident if we’d been able to make our second-quarter shipments.”

For the first six months of its fiscal 1987, General Automation posted net earnings of $366,000, compared with a loss of $1.2 million in the six months ended Feb. 1, 1986. Sales of $18.9 million were up 13% from $16.7 million in the prior fiscal year’s first half.