Ceradyne Expects Loss for 4th Quarter

Ceradyne Inc., a Costa Mesa-based high-technology ceramics maker, said it expects to report a fourth-quarter loss that may erase the $1.1 million in net earnings reported for the first nine months of 1986.

Joel P. Moskowitz, Ceradyne’s chairman, said the primary reason for the loss is that profits expected from the company’s purchase of Semicon Associates, a ceramics cathode manufacturer, and Atlanta-based Thermo Materials Inc., a ceramics manufacturer, cannot be placed on the books for 1986.

Another reason for the company’s predicted fourth-quarter loss is that Ceradyne’s multimillion-dollar contract with McDonnell Douglas Aircraft Co. to make ceramic armored seats for a military helicopter is winding down, Moskowitz said.

In the first nine months of its fiscal 1987, Ceradyne reported net income of $1.1 million from sales of $13.7 million. The fourth quarter’s loss may wipe out most or all of these earnings, Moskowitz said.

He added that he expects the company to return to profitability early in the current year.