Key Tronic Makes Move Away From Keyboards

Key Tronic Corp. officials said Tuesday that fourth-quarter and fiscal-year revenues show the company is making a successful transition from keyboards to custom manufacturing.

For fiscal year 2000’s final quarter, Key Tronic reported total revenue of $47 million, up from $42.9 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 1999.

Net income for the quarter was $19,000, compared with net income of $689,000 in 1999. Last year’s income included a pre-tax gain of approximately $1.2 million from the sale of a distribution facility in Ireland.

“We’ve turned the corner,” said Jack Oehlke, Key Tronic president and CEO during a conference call. “We’re a different company today than we were a year ago,” he said.

The company continues to distribute keyboards for some computer companies. But it has shifted its business primarily to design and custom manufacture of electronic components. Most of those CDM (custom design and manufacture) items are produced at Key Tronic’s Juarez, Mexico, plant.

CDM revenue for the quarter was a record $35 million, or 75 percent of total revenue, up from $14.5 million, or 34 percent of total revenue, for the same period of fiscal 1999.

CDM products ranges from automotive parts to precision plastics, from telecommunications devices to medical test devices.

Because of declining keyboard business, Key Tronic reported a decline in total yearly revenues - $164.4 million in 2000 compared with $178.3 million in fiscal 1999.

Net loss for the year was $5.3 million, or $0.55 per diluted share, compared with a profit of $3 million or $0.31 per diluted share for 1999.

The company’s stock fell from $4 to $3.81 per share Tuesday on the Nasdaq exchange.

In other reports Tuesday:

Sales at Cisco Systems Inc. surged 61 percent in its fiscal fourth quarter as the Internet networking giant beat Wall Street’s expectations by a penny a share.

Panhandle Bancorp, which now goes by the name Intermountain Community Bancorp, reported that loans, deposits and assets increased during the past six months. After-tax income was $1.13 million, down $94,376 from the same period last year. The decrease was the result of expenditures on the bank’s southern division.

The name change reflects the bank’s presence in southern Idaho, where it has branches in Payette and Weiser.

In other news, Jim Fenton announced his retirement after 18 years on the board. Jerry Smith has been elected to the board of directors.