Tax credit boosts Anaren’s fiscal third-quarter earnings

DeWITT — Anaren, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANEN) earned $5.3 million, or 41 cents per share, during its fiscal third quarter that ended March 31.

That was up 167 percent from the $2 million, or 14 cents a share, it earned in the year-ago period.

Anaren released its fiscal third-quarter financial results following the market close on Tuesday.

A one-time favorable adjustment of about $1.6 million, or 12 cents per diluted share, boosted the firm’s net income during the latest quarter. The adjustment followed the reinstatement of the federal Research & Experimentation Tax Credit in January, which was retroactive to January 2012, the company said in its earnings news release.

Anaren reported net sales of $39 million in the fiscal third quarter, up 12.3 percent from $34.7 million in net sales for the year-earlier quarter.

“The growth in net sales and improved profitability for the quarter was driven by both the Space & Defense and Wireless Groups. The Space & Defense Group business is benefiting from improved-operational execution and a growing percentage of Space related business,” Lawrence Sala, Anaren president and CEO, said in the news release.

Anaren generated revenue of $12 million in its Wireless Group during the latest quarter, up nearly 17 percent from the third quarter of fiscal 2012. However, the sales figure was sequentially down nearly seven percent compared to the company’s fiscal second quarter ending Dec. 31, due primarily to price reductions that went into effect Jan. 1.

Demand from wireless infrastructure customers has remained stable in recent quarters and current forecasts indicate comparable demand for the fourth quarter, the company said.

Anaren produced revenue of $27 million in its Space & Defense group in the latest quarter, up 10 percent from the third quarter of fiscal 2012. The firm cited continued improved operational execution and a more favorable product mix during the current quarter for the  group’s higher profitability compared to the year-earlier period.

Numerous space, radar and electronic warfare applications drove new orders for the fiscal third quarter totaling more than $18 million. Orders for the quarter were lower than sales levels largely due to timing, the firm said. The Space & Defense Group order backlog at March 31 was about $95.9 million.

Both Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMN) and Raytheon Co. (NYSE: RTN) generated more than 10 percent of the Space & Defense group’s net sales for the latest quarter, Anaren said.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com