Newport Corp. Registers Loss of $713,000, 10 Cents a Share, for Quarter : Statement: Recession and defense industry cutbacks blamed. A $155,000 profit was reported for the same period the previous year.

Newport Corp. reported Tuesday that it lost $713,000, or 10 cents a share, for its latest fiscal quarter. That contrasted with a profit of $155,000, or 2 cents a share, for the same period a year earlier.

Revenue for the company’s first fiscal quarter, which ended Oct. 31, was $21.9 million, up more than 26% from $17.3 million for the same period last year.

The company, based in Irvine, attributed its quarterly loss to the worldwide recession and cutbacks in the defense industry, which have reduced demand for its line of precision laser and optical equipment.

“The weak economic climate is the major factor,” said Robert C. Hewitt, senior vice president of finance. The company hopes to return to profitability next calendar year, he said, when a major restructuring should be complete.

The company has been making some changes since November, 1991, when it bought Micro-Controle S.A., a French maker of precision instruments. The purchase doubled Newport Corp.’s size.

Newport Corp.’s acquisition of Micro-Controle came at a bad time, just as the French and European markets were slowing down, said Robert Gutenstein, a stock analyst at Kalb, Voorhis & Co. in New York.

But the company’s goal of returning to profitability next year seems attainable, Gutenstein said. “This is a company that’s been historically quite profitable and has had good gross margins.”

The company made a smart move last year when it hired Richard E. Schmidt as chairman and chief executive officer, Gutenstein said. Schmidt has experience in taking a company through a major restructuring, which he did while he was chairman of Milton Roy Co. in Florida, Gutenstein said.