General Automation Sees Operating Profit This Year

General Automation Inc., which has struggled for years to reverse its sliding fortunes, Tuesday confirmed Wall Street projections that it will post a profit of $540,000 to $810,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30--the company’s first operating earnings in eight years.

In a briefing for analysts earlier this week, Chairman Leonard Mackenzie said the computer manufacturing and marketing company expects to report revenue of $42 million for the year. For the third-quarter, he said, revenue should be about $10.8 million, a 33% increase over the previous year.

The company did not reveal whether it will report a profit or a loss when its results for the quarter ended March 31 are released later this week. But for the first six months of the fiscal year, the company had revenue of $18.9 million and profits of $366,000.

In reviewing General Automation’s plans for fiscal 1988, Mackenzie said the company hopes revenue will grow 45% to between $65 million and $69 million. He said the company continues to study possible acquisitions and will look to private investors for the additional operating funds the company will need to fuel its growth.

In the last five years, General Automation has shed its ailing electronic manufacturing operations to concentrate exclusively on a new line of microcomputers it named the Zebra system. The system, which includes several business computers, has been well received since its introduction in mid-1983, especially in Europe, Australia and New Zealand.