Microsemi Restructure Will Mean Massachusetts Layoffs

Microsemi Corp., noting that its military unit has encountered stiffer competition that has eroded inventory values, said Friday that its results for the most recent quarter will include a charge of $5.9 million.

The company, a Santa Ana-based supplier of semiconductors and other power-management products, also said it is shutting down its Microsemi-BKC unit, a supplier of military and space parts in Massachusetts, and will consolidate the operations into its other business units.

All employees--about 180 people--at the unit will lose their jobs, said David R. Sonksen, Microsemi’s chief financial officer.

Microsemi will report its fiscal fourth-quarter results Nov. 23. Analysts expected the company to report earnings of 10 cents a share for the fourth quarter, according to analysts surveyed by First Call/Thomson Financial.

For the fourth quarter ended Sept. 27, 1998, the company reported net income of $2.5 million, or 21 cents a share, on sales of $40.2 million.

“The entire satellite business has been slowing down for the last year or so,” Sonksen said. “When the number of satellites going up shrinks, that is going to impact us.”

The softness of this business has continued without measurable signs of recovery. That trend, coupled with recent initiatives by satellite customers to use lower-costs parts, reduced the value of Microsemi’s space-parts inventory, officials said.

Microsemi has 2,500 employees worldwide, with about 500 of them based in Orange County.

The stock, which has lost about a third of its value this year, closed Friday at $7.50, down 63 cents a share, in Nasdaq trading.

Dow Jones News Service was used in this report.