Stockeryale slows losses, grows sales

Stockyale continues to lose money, but the good news is that the amount of money lost each quarter keeps shrinking, and sales keep growing.

The Salem-based provider of photonics-based products suffered a net loss of $1.2 million in the first quarter of 2006, ending March 31, but that was a million less than it lost the same quarter of last year, the company reported in an earnings statement released late Monday afternoon. That loss brings the assets down to $24.8 million. While the company earnings release did not specify the amount of cash on hand, the category of “other assets” — $3.9 million – appears to show that the company’s cash reserve has diminished slightly from a year ago despite the sale of its Salem headquarters, which it now leases, and its Asian operation in order to raise cash.

The company stressed that sales – particularly in its newer continuing operations – were up by $4.4 million, a 12 percent increase from a year ago and nine percent higher than the last quarter of 2005. The company credits sales of its laser products in the machine and defense market, as well as the growth of specialty optical fiber for industrial, defense and telecom equipment application.

Gross profit increased to $1.7 million, but that quickly disappears once various administration expenses are taken into account. Stockeryale said that it only had an operating loss of $266,000 if it didn’t use generally accepted accounting principal required by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The rules were recently updated to include stock options and other deferred compensation as an expense. It also disallows depreciation write-offs.

Under GAP, therefore, the company suffered an operating loss of $902,000, though that is better than the $1.4 million operating loss it faced in the first quarter of 2005. —BOB SANDERS