Airport Bomb Detection Firm About Set To Go Public

Vivid Technologies Inc., which makes inspection systems to detect bombs in airline luggage, plans to sell 2 million shares in a first-time stock sale.

The move is designed to strengthen the company’s position in the increasingly competitive industry for improved airport safety equipment, especially devices that can detect plastic explosives.

The Woburn, Massachusetts-based company plans to raise $23.53 million through the offering, after expenses, if the stock sells at $13 a share, according to a company filing Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

While Vivid equipment isn’t operating yet at U.S. airports, the company says that more than 100 of its different systems have been installed throughout Europe. Passengers at London’s Heathrow and Gatwick airports and Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport, for example, already undergo screening by Vivid’s explosives detection equipment.

The systems inspect some 1,500 pieces of luggage per hour at up to three different testing levels. Not only can the systems find bombs, including plastic explosives, but also they can pinpoint guns and knives, the company said.

Vivid’s management envisions that the technology eventually will be applied in other areas as well.

“The company believes that installations of advanced automated explosives detection systems at airports will accelerate the adoption of this technology for other security applications, including the screening of airline carry-on baggage, the protection of government and private facilities and the screening of mail,” the SEC filing said.

Some of the stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily Friday:

NYSE

Philip Morris, down $5.37-1/2 at $92 and RJR Nabisco, down $1 at $26.50.

In a study published in the journal Science, researchers reported finding a tobacco carcinogen that links up with a gene that is critical in the development of cancer. On Thursday, meanwhile, New York City joined a long list that includes San Francisco, Los Angeles County and at least 17 states suing the tobacco industry to retrieve the costs attributed to smoking-related illnesses.

McDonald’s, down 12-1/2 cents at $46.12-1/2.

The fast-food giant’s third-quarter profits rose 10 percent, but its recent introduction of a Deluxe line of sandwiches and rapid store openings failed to stem a steady decline in U.S. sales. Chicago-based McDonald’s income for the period rose to a record $440.6 million, or 62 cents a share, falling in line with analyst expectations.

NASDAQ

Iomega, up $1.18-3/4 at $24.06-1/4.

The Roy, Utah-based maker of disk drives and computer storage products reported third-quarter earnings and revenues above expectations. Late Thursday, Iomega, said it had third-quarter earnings of $12.8 million, or 9 cents a share, on revenue of $310.1 million.

Onyx Pharmaceuticals, up $5.87-1/2 at $15.87-1/2.

In research published in the journal Science, the Richmond, Calif.-based company reported that its researchers have turned a common virus into one with the potential to become a highly specific treatment for certain types of human cancers.

Vantive, down $9.50 at $31.50.

The Santa Clara, Calif.-based software company reported strong third-quarter earnings but cautioned that it expects little revenue growth into early next year, the Dow Jones News Service reported.

Summit Design, up $11.87-1/2 from initial offering at $9.50.

The stock started trading after the Beaverton, Ore.-based maker of graphic design software tools sold 4 million shares for $38 million in an initial public offering.

Summit Design had expected the shares to be offered for between $7 and $9.