Newport Corp. Expects Loss in Third Quarter : Earnings: Quarterly setback will be the first one in 12 years, but the company attributes most of it to a one-time restructuring charge of up to $22 million connected to an acquisition.

Newport Corp. said Tuesday that it will report its first quarterly loss in 12 years because of major restructuring costs and a slowdown in orders for its laser and optical laboratory equipment. It also said it might reduce its work force later this year.

The Fountain Valley manufacturer expects to post an $11-million to $13-million loss, or between $1.60 and $1.80 a share, for its third fiscal quarter, which ended April 30. That contrasts with a profit of $936,000, or 14 cents a share, for the same period a year earlier.

A factor in the results for the latest quarter is a onetime restructuring charge between $19 million and $22 million related to its recent acquisition of Micro-Controle S.A., a French company that makes precision instruments. The combination boosted sales by 60% in the latest three months, Newport said, to $24 million, up from $15 million in the same period a year earlier.

The quarterly loss “is a fairly natural thing,” said Mark Matheson, a research analyst at Cruttenden & Co. in Irvine. “It was a major acquisition. That’s what you would expect when you combine two companies and try to develop some synergy.”

By the end of the summer, when the restructuring is completed, Newport expects to cut $10 million in annual costs by streamlining. That could include trimming its 950-employee work force, said Robert C. Hewitt, the company’s senior vice president for finance. About 350 of those employees are in Orange County, he said.

“We don’t have all of the details yet,” he said.

The company also said Tuesday that it expects to post a loss for its fiscal year, which ends July 31.

“There is no likelihood of making enough in the fourth quarter to offset the losses,” Hewitt said. “. . . We don’t see any significant strength in sales over the next couple of quarters.”

Newport has been hurt because a large share of its sales come from aerospace and defense industries, which have been battered by federal budget cuts. In addition, scientific research firms have cut down on orders because grant money has been scarce during the recession.

“The buyers will want to see their business turning around--really turning around--until they place orders for something like a laser table,” Matheson said.

Even without the restructuring costs, the company would have posted a loss of between $850,000 and $1.2 million, Hewitt said.

“It’s the recession, particularly in France, where sales were quite a bit lower than we had anticipated,” he said. “It seems like the economies in Europe lag the United States economy by a few months.”

About 90% of the company’s sales are divided evenly between the United States and Europe, Hewitt said. The other 10% comes from the Pacific Rim, he said.