IPG Photonics Posts Q2 Loss

IPG Photonics Corp., a manufacturer of high-power fiber lasers and amplifiers, has reported a revenue decline of 28 percent and a net loss of $1.2 million, or 3 cents a share, for the second quarter of 2009. One year ago, the company posted a profit of $8.6 million, or 19 cents per share.

The company largely attributed the decline to weak pulsed laser sales for materials processing.

“Second-quarter revenue continued to be affected by the global economic downturn, which resulted in lower prices for certain products due to both the macroeconomic environment and increased competition,” said IPG Photonics CEO Valentin Gapontsev. “The materials processing market is especially weak in Europe and Asia, which had a significant effect on our sales this quarter. High-power laser sales were up slightly year-over-year for both the second quarter and the first half of 2009.

“Despite a tough economic environment, we believe demand for our high-power lasers for a variety of materials processing applications remained resilient primarily due to market share gains,” he said. “High-power laser markets represent a substantially larger market opportunity with fewer competitors than the pulsed laser markets. Besides high-power lasers, three of our smaller markets showed some stability during the second quarter. The telecommunications, medical and advanced applications markets each reported year-over-year growth.”

Gapontsev said laser sales for materials processing are expected to be weak for the rest of the year.

“At the same time, we are encouraged by the growth in high-power sales, positive signs in the medical, telecommunications and advanced applications markets and the performance of our new products, such as our green lasers, new high-energy pulsed lasers, long-pulsed lasers aimed at replacing lamp-pumped YAG lasers, and our new 100-watt fiber-coupled laser diodes. While visibility for the third quarter of 2009 is better than at the beginning of the second quarter, it remains limited for the remainder of the year. We are hopeful for the beginnings of a recovery in the second half of 2009,” he said.

The company expects revenue in the range of $39 million to $44 million for the third quarter of 2009.

For more information, visit: www.ipgphotonics.com