Citing the effects of sharply lower sales...

Citing the effects of sharply lower sales of its line of personal computers, Kaypro Corp. announced a first-quarter loss of $616,000, contrasted with a profit of $1.3 million over the same three-month period last year. Last year’s profit reflected a $515,000 credit from a tax-loss carry-forward.

Sales for the first quarter ended Nov. 27 dipped to $22.5 million, off 25% from the $29.9 million reported for first quarter in the previous year. Kaypro Chairman Andrew Kay blamed the lower revenue on a decrease in sales of custom computers and in sales to original-equipment-manufacturer (OEM) customers. Kaypro also reported a drop in average unit selling prices.

Though Kaypro has reduced its overhead in recent months, Kaypro Controller Robert Gorski said there were no layoffs over the recently completed quarter, nor are there any planned in the immediate future.

For the fiscal year ended Aug. 28, Kaypro reported a loss of $9.6 million on revenue of $105.6 million.