Lasers and photonic technologies provider Newport Corp. reported a first-quarter 2013 profit of $2.7 million, or 7 cents a share, on Wednesday. Sales in all five of its primary end markets were down sequentially and year over year. Sales for the quarter, which ended March 30, totaled $132.6 million, down 6.4 percent compared with the fourth quarter of 2012 and down year over year from March 2012's $157 million. In year-over-year sales by market segment, microelectronics declined 23 percent to $27.7 million, health and life sciences by 16 percent to $31.1 million, scientific research by 14 percent to $30.9 million, defense and security by 11 percent to $15.4 million, and industrial manufacturing by 10 percent to $27.4 million. Sequentially, sales dropped in all segments, with the largest being in defense and security (15.8 percent) and scientific research (7.3 percent), which the company attributed to continued uncertainty in government funding under sequestration and normal seasonal patterns in the research market. Bookings year over year declined 52 percent in life sciences, 33 percent in microelectronics, 25 percent in defense and security, 7.6 percent in scientific research, and 7.5 percent in industrial manufacturing. "While conditions in the primary markets we serve were generally weak in the first quarter, we did see sequential growth in orders from customers in our life and health sciences, microelectronics, and industrial markets, which may reflect the early signs of improving conditions," said President and CEO Robert J. Phillippy. Looking ahead, "we expect conditions in several end markets to improve during the course of 2013, resulting in increased sales in the second half of the year," Phillippy said. "In the second quarter of 2013, we expect sales to be slightly higher than the first quarter level, based on our current backlog and the anticipated market improvement." Because of that, Phillippy said the company expects slight sequential increases in earnings for the second quarter. Other laser makers also reported earnings this week. IPG Photonics reported double-digit sales growth year over year in its materials processing business, which accounts for 94 percent of the company’s revenue (See: IPG Photonics: Materials Processing Drives Sales Up 29%). Coherent reported record materials processing orders for the quarter (See: Industrial Fiber Laser Sales Boost Coherent’s Q2), largely the result of growth in China. For more information, visit: www.newport.com