Iwerks Expects Modest Profit for 1st Quarter

Iwerks Entertainment Inc., a Burbank supplier of special format movie theaters, said it expects to report a “modest” profit for its fiscal first quarter ended Sept. 30.

The company also said that its balance sheet remains strong, with more than $22 million in cash and less than $3 million in long-term debt. The financial results for the quarter are expected to be released later this month.

Roy A. Wright, Iwerks’ co-chairman and chief executive, said the first-quarter results would reflect continuing improvement under the company’s turnaround strategy. Iwerks had run into financial trouble due largely to a failed concept to develop urban entertainment centers.

But Wright also cautioned that Iwerks’ fiscal second-quarter results could fall short of analysts’ projections because of customer-related delays of simulation-theater contracts in Asia.