Advanced Logic Reports Profit

Advanced Logic Research Inc. on Thursday reported a profit for the first time in five quarters as cost-cutting moves and increasing demand for personal computers helped improve its bottom line.

ALR reported earnings of $521,000, or 5 cents a share, for its first fiscal quarter ended Dec. 31, compared to a loss of $1.8 million, or 16 cents a share, for the same quarter a year ago. Quarterly sales rose 17%, to $49.6 million.

“The results are a culmination of the work we did to reorient our distribution strategy and restructure our work force in the last year,” said Ron Sipkovich, chief financial officer of the Irvine-based company.

In the past year, ALR laid off 10% of its 550-person work force and turned its attention to the high end of the corporate PC market instead of supplying a broad range of computers for all types of computer users.

The transition, forced by price-cutting by larger rivals in the industry, led ALR to post a $10.6-million loss for its fiscal year ended Sept. 30.

The company churned out machines based on Intel Corp.’s fastest computer chip, the Pentium microprocessor, which serves as the brain of a computer.

Sipkovich said ALR also got a boost from a slowdown in the price war among personal computer manufacturers.

“Everyone has cut back to the bone in the last 18 months, and there’s not a lot of room left to cut,” he said.