CMS Enhancements Reports Its First Profit in 2 Years

Posting its first profit in two years, CMS Enhancements Inc. on Monday reported earnings of $51,000, or 2 cents a share, for the latest quarter.

That was a marked improvement from a loss of $894,000, or 30 cents a share, for the same period last year. Revenue for the company’s first fiscal quarter, which ended Sept. 30, fell 30% to $20.8 million from $29.8 million.

Jamshed (Jim) Farooquee, president and chief executive of the Irvine maker of hard disk drives and other computer accessories, attributed the profit to reduced operating costs and the streamlining of the company’s worldwide operations.

In the past two years, CMS has lost $17 million and laid off 350 employees. Farooquee blamed both on the poor state of the economy and tough competition in the computer market. He also said the company strayed from its core business: making peripherals for the major personal computer makers.

Many computer peripherals companies like CMS reported losses or slim profits in the past year as a result of the fierce price war in the industry, said Jeffrey Kilpatrick, president of Newport Securities Corp. in Costa Mesa.

“The fact that they’re showing improvement in what is considered a difficult PC equipment market is encouraging,” he said.