Thursday, October 25, 2007

PAPER AND WOOD PRODUCTS

Temple-Inland profit down 62% for quarter

Temple-Inland Inc., the Austin-based paper and packaging maker that's spinning off its real estate and banking units, said third-quarter profit fell 62 percent as prices and demand for building materials declined.

The company made $36 million, or 33 cents a share, down from $95 million, or 86 cents, a year earlier. Sales fell 7.8 percent to $1.3 billion, including a 28 percent decline in revenue from lumber and other wood products.

Excluding one-time items, Temple-Inland earned 47 cents a share in the quarter, three cents more than analysts had forecast.

The company is breaking up under pressure from investor Carl Icahn, who owns about 8.9 percent of the shares.

In response, Temple-Inland is selling timberlands and moving to spin off its real estate and financial services businesses to focus on making corrugated packaging and building materials.

The company said it expects to pay a special dividend of $10.25 a share, or $1.1 billion, from the planned sale of the timberlands for $2.4 billion. About $700 million will be used to reduce debt.

CHIPMAKING

$6.5 million in charges hurts Cirrus' earnings

Cirrus Logic Inc. reported a small second-quarter loss after taking $6.5 million in charges.

The Austin chipmaker lost $332,000, or less than 1 cent a share, on sales of $47 million for the quarter, compared with a profit of $9.3 million, or 11 cents a share, on revenue of $48.2 million a year ago.

The company took a charge of $3.7 million related to the reduced value of its investment in Magnum Semiconductor. Magnum was formed in 2005 when Cirrus spun off its video processing technology business. Later investments made in Magnum diluted Cirrus' holdings.

The company also took $2.1 million in adjustments related to its acquisition of Tucson-based Apex Microtechnology Corp. in July for $42 million in cash. Other charges were tied to stock-based compensation for employees and legal fees related to a review of granting stock options.

Cirrus said it expects revenue of $47 million to $51 million in the current quarter.

CEO Jason Rhode, who became head of the company in May, said the quarter was devoted to laying the foundation for longer-term growth.

Cirrus had 545 employees worldwide at the end of the latest quarter, including 315 in Austin.

BIOLOGICAL TESTING

Luminex revenue up; losses hit $3.3 million

Luminex Corp. said revenue rose 55 percent in the third quarter, reflecting strong sales and royalty income from its biological testing systems.

The company had a loss of $3.3 million but said the quarter included $3.7 million in noncash charges, included $1.3 million related to the acquisition of Tm Bioscience.

On a per-share basis, the company lost nine cents. It had no per-share profit a year ago, when it made a profit of $111,000.

Revenue rose to $19.3 million from $12.5 million a year ago.