Odetics’ Fiscal Year Earnings Fall 91%; New Products Keep It Slightly in Black

Buoyed by the launch of two new products in the fourth quarter, high-tech manufacturer Odetics Inc. posted a slight profit for its 1992 fiscal year ended March 31.

The company reported net earnings of only $89,000, or 2 cents a share, for the 12 months, down 91% from $1 million, or 24 cents a share, a year earlier.

Revenues fell 3% to $70.3 million from $72.4 million a year ago.

Chief Executive Joel Slutzky called the year one of the most difficult in the 23-year history of the company, which makes an array of high-tech products, including automated broadcast videotape libraries, data recorders for satellites and precise-timing devices.

It was the decision to continue expensive product research that “made the year challenging,” Slutzky said in a statement. “However, that decision paid off in the last quarter.”

During the final four months, Odetics launched a new version of its automated videotape libraries for TV stations and an automated computer data tape system--a robotic machine that retrieves data storage tapes from a library and feeds them to a large computer.

For its fiscal fourth quarter, the company posted net income of $1.1 million, or 24 cents a share, almost four times the $344,000, or 8 cents a share, of a year earlier. Revenues for the final three months rose 2% to $20.1 million from $19.7 million a year earlier.

In addition to the earnings boost, Odetics got one other piece of good news in the final quarter: Its existence in Anaheim is no longer threatened. The Walt Disney Co. assured the company that its 14-acre parcel on Manchester Avenue is no longer the primary site for a parking garage in Disneyland’s planned expansion.