IEC announces Q1 profit for fiscal 2005

IEC Electronics Corp. (IECE.OB) announced today its results for the first quarter of fiscal 2005, ending December 31, 2004.

IEC reported net income of $82,000 or $0.01 per share on revenue of $6.2 million for the quarter. This compares to a net income of $132,000 or $0.02 per share on revenue of $6.5 million for the same quarter a year ago.

W. Barry Gilbert, Chairman of the Board and CEO, stated, "Although our profit was modest, we have made substantial progress in rebuilding the Company. Last year we were trying to deal with the loss of Motorola. We needed to reduce our costs and refocus our sales activities, and will continue to do so as required. Some of the programs we have put into place are starting to take hold. We embarked upon a lean-manufacturing program late last year, and we should see the benefits from that as the year moves on. We expect that our gross margin will improve over the balance of the year as our revenue increases."

Gilbert further added, "The loss of a major customer takes time to replace and we have started to do just that with a focused marketing thrust. We have strengthened our balance sheet and our lending relationships. Last week we announced the refinancing of our long-term debt with Keltic Financial Corp. We consolidated the debt held by Sun Trust and were able to reduce our borrowing rate of interest. During the quarter we completed revamping our senior management team. Donald Doody, formerly of Plexus Corporation, joined us as Vice President of Operations. We continue to move forward and are cautiously optimistic about what we see on the horizon. "