Diceon Has $12.7-Million Loss in ’92

For the fourth consecutive year, Diceon Electronics Inc. was unable to heal its circuit board manufacturing business and reported a loss for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30.

The Irvine-based company reported a net loss of $12.7 million, or $2.46 per share, compared with a net loss of $11.3 million, or $2.16 per share, in fiscal 1991. The company makes circuit boards for sophisticated computer workstations and telecommunications products.

Revenues were down 4% to $101.4 million compared with $105.9 million in fiscal 1991. The company blamed a combination of the recession, a poor mix of products and severe price competition in the industry.

Those factors offset any gains the company made from reducing its costs through layoffs and plant closings two years ago. Still, Peter Jonas, vice chairman, said the company is confident it can turn itself around and has a cushion of $17 million in cash to ride out the recession.

This year, Diceon actually increased its staffing to 1,150 employees, up from about 1,100 a year ago, Jonas said.

Sales in the fourth quarter increased 5.8% to $27.2 million from $25.7 million a year earlier. Even so, the company lost $2.9 million, or 58 cents a share, compared with a loss of $4.3 million, or 82 cents a share, a year earlier.

Jonas said orders are picking up in the market for so-called multi-chip modules, which pack a number of computer chips tightly in small packages for use in high-end computer workstations.