GLENVIEW, ILL. -Zenith Electronics Corp. substantially reduced its loss for the third quarter in 2000, to $2.8 million from $13 million in same quarter of 1999. The net quarterly results in 2000 include a $5.9 million gain on the sale of Zenith’s Network Systems division.
Net loss from continuing operations during the current third quarter was $7.8 million, compared with $9.8 million in the third quarter of 1999. The operating loss in the third quarter was $1.2 million, compared with $1.6 million in the year-ago quarter. Zenith said this figure reflects cost reductions that offset lower gross margins.
Zenith’s sales in the third quarter ending Sept. 30 came in at $145 million, nearly a 30 percent drop from the $210 million recorded in the same three months last year. The company said the decline was primarily due to planned reductions in lower-profit consumer electronics products and customers.
For the first nine months, Zenith reported a net loss from continuing operations of $37.5 million, compared with a net loss from continuing operations of $59 million for the first nine months of 1999. Including a gain on the Network Systems sale, the total nine-month net loss was $31.1 million, compared to $59 million in the year-ago period.
Sales for the nine months were $339 million, a 35 percent decrease from the $521 million reported in the year-ago nine months.
Interest expense for the third quarter was $6.8 million, compared with $9.1 million in the year-earlier period. This lower figure resulted primarily from completion of Zenith’s financial restructuring in the fourth quarter of 1999.
