Precision Optics to Cut Jobs

Precision Optics Corp. Inc. announced it will reduce its work force as a result of operating losses it expects to continue through 2008.

Last week the Gardner-based manufacturer of advanced optical instruments and medical instruments for minimally invasive surgeries released its financial statements for the first quarter of fiscal year 2008, which ended Sept. 30, 2007. While total revenue for the quarter increased $674,103, or 158 percent, over the same period last year, primarily due to shipments of an advanced surgical visualization system to a new customer, the company posted a net loss of $466,848, or 2 cents a share. Net losses a year ago were $688,179, or 4 cents a share.

"Based on the current financial condition of the company and the expectation of future continued quarterly operating losses during fiscal 2008, management is currently investigating and evaluating alternatives for raising additional capital through private and public debt and equity offerings that can be completed during the second or third quarters of fiscal 2008. In an effort to decrease operating expenses, the company has recently begun implementing cost containment plans including work force reductions, deferring of certain development initiatives and focusing on a limited number of products and technologies expected to provide near-term revenues," Precision Optics said in a statement. The company has approximately 30 employees.

Precision Optics said it believes its recent introduction of several new products, including a 4-mm-diameter sinuscope and a 5-mm-diameter laparoscope, will generate additional revenues to help the company turn a profit. It recently received an order in excess of $400,000 for its new line of optical thin-film coatings, which it has developed over the past two years, and plans to release a widefield arthroscope next spring.

For more information, visit: www.poci.com