Meade Instruments Corp.

The Irvine designer and manufacturer of telescopes and binoculars said it lost $4.7 million, or 31 cents a share, for the fourth quarter ended Feb. 28, which included pretax charges of $6.1 million against inventories and accounts receivable and $1.4 million from excess inventories and bad-debt expenses brought on by customer bankruptcies. A year ago, the company earned $899,000, or 6 cents a share. Sales rose 2% to $22.2 million. For the year, net income totaled $1.3 million, or 8 cents a share, down from $12 million, or 80 cents a share, for the prior fiscal year. Sales dropped 3% to $123 million.