Williams Controls Posts an Increase in Earnings

Williams Controls reported earnings of more than $2.3 million for its fiscal 2005 fourth quarter, compared to a compared to a net loss of more than $7.7 million for the same period last year. The company also experienced a hike of almost 10 percent in fourth quarter sales revenue from last year’s $15.9 million to $17.4 million.

PORTLAND, OR — Williams Controls reported earnings of more than $2.3 million for its fiscal 2005 fourth quarter, compared to a compared to a net loss of more than $7.7 million for the same period last year. The company also experienced a hike of almost 10 percent in fourth quarter sales revenue from last year’s $15.9 million to $17.4 million.

For the year ending Sept. 30, earnings was $7.5 million or 16 cents per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $4 million , or (19 cents) per diluted share, for the year ended Sept. 30, 2004. As for sales revenue, the company saw an increase of 16 percent for the year ending Sept. 30 from $58 million to $67.4 million. The increase in 2005 sales was primarily due to higher unit volumes to heavy truck, transit bus and off-road customers in North America, Europe and Asia.

During fiscal 2005, Williams Controls embarked on several strategic growth initiatives, which included establishing sales and manufacturing operations in China, opening a sales and technical office in Europe, and developing sensors for use in its electronic throttle control product lines. These initiatives, as well as other factors, resulted in an overall increase in operating expenses during fiscal 2005 as compared to fiscal 2004. Operating expenses for the fourth quarter of 2005 decreased $144,000 compared to the same quarter in 2004; however, for the full year ended Sept. 30, operating expenses increased more than $1 million over the prior year.

”We are pleased with our performance over the last year,” said Williams Controls’ President and CEO Patrick Cavanagh. “We anticipate that our technology license for advanced non-contacting sensor technology will enable us to respond faster and at lower costs to our customers’ requirements. During the last year, we have positioned ourselves to take advantage of international opportunities while investing in improving our competitive position with better technology and lower costs.”

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