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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported) December 30, 1996
SYQUEST TECHNOLOGY, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Delaware
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation)
0-19674 94-2793941
(Commission File Number) (IRS Employer Identification No.)
47071 Bayside Parkway, Fremont, California 94538
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
Registrant's telephone number, including area code (510) 226-4000
Not Applicable
(Former name or former address, if changed since last report.)
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INFORMATION TO BE INCLUDED IN THE REPORT
Item 5. Other Events
SyQuest's Announcement of Its Fiscal 1996 Fourth Quarter Results
On December 30, 1996, SyQuest Technology, Inc. ("Registrant")
announced a net loss of $10.4 million, or $1.29 per share, on net revenues of
$44.8 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 1996, which ended September 30,
1996. In the same period a year ago, Registrant had a net loss of $19.1
million, or $1.69 per share, on net revenues of $88.4 million. Registrant's
results for fiscal 1996 are summarized in the press release attached hereto as
Exhibit 99.1.
Item 7. Financial Statements and Exhibits
c) Exhibits
99.1 Registrant's Press Release dated December 30, 1996
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on
its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
SYQUEST TECHNOLOGY, INC.
(Registrant)
Date: December 30, 1996 By /s/ Edwin L. Harper
Edwin L. Harper
President and Chief
Executive Officer
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Exhibit 99.1
Contact:
Ed Harper Richard Cline
SyQuest Technology Miller/Shandwick Technologies
(510) 226-4202 (415) 962-9550
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
SYQUEST REPORTS FISCAL 1996 FOURTH QUARTER RESULTS
Net Loss Sharply Reduced; Sequential Quarterly Revenues Increase for First Time
in Over a Year.
FREMONT, Calif., Dec. 30, 1996 -- SyQuest Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ;SYQT), a
leading manufacturer of removable cartridge hard drives, today reported a
reduced net loss of $10.4 million, or $1.29 per share, on net revenues of $44.8
million for the fiscal fourth quarter ended September 30, 1996. In the same
period a year ago the company had a net loss of $19.1 million, or $1.69 per
share, on net revenues of $88.4 million.
Compared with the fiscal third quarter of 1996, SyQuest in the fourth
quarter reduced its net loss by 75 percent and increased its net revenue by 52
percent. Gross profit margins improved to 22 percent of revenues, compared with
negative gross margins in the preceding period.
For all of fiscal year 1996, SyQuest posted a net loss of $136.7 million,
or $12.38 per share, on revenues of $200.4 million, compared with a net loss of
$11.8 million, or $1.07 per share, on revenues of $299.5 million in fiscal 1995.
"Our fourth quarter results signal renewed momentum for SyQuest, marking
the first time in over a year that the company has achieved sequential quarterly
revenue growth," said Chairman Ed Marinaro. "Since early summer, under new
management, we have taken major steps to move SyQuest toward profitability.
This quarter is a benchmark in our turnaround strategy."
Marinaro said that the company has expanded its manufacturing capacity,
without additional factory hiring or increased plant facilities, through
improvements in operating efficiencies and yields.
He also noted that since May SyQuest has significantly restored its balance
sheet, completing $71.5 million worth of equity investments and restructuring
$38.5 million of debt into long- and short-term notes. On Nov. 7, 1996, the
company announced that it had exceeded the financial requirements of NASDAQ and
was therefore allowed to maintain its National Market listing on the stock
exchange.
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SyQuest to date has shipped a total of more than three million removable
cartridge hard drives and 15 million cartridges worldwide. The company has
already shipped more than 90,000 units of its EZFlyer 230 drive -- the second of
the EZ product family --while discontinuing the EZ135 drive.
SyQuest said that it has also begun initial delivery to customers of its
innovative SyJet 1.5 GB removable cartridge hard drive and expects volume
shipments to commence in January, 1997, to fulfill a large backlog of orders
from OEMs, resellers and retailers.
About SyQuest
SyQuest Technology, Inc. is headquartered in Fremont, California, and
maintains manufacturing plants in Fremont, Calif., and Penang, Malaysia, with
additional facilities in Colorado, California, Europe and Asia. The company
offers removable cartridge hard drives for Apple, Windows, MS-DOS, PC-DOS, UNIX,
SGI and Sun OS platforms. SyQuest (SYQT) is publicly traded on NASDAQ's
National Market System. See SyQuest on the World Wide Web at
http://www.syquest.com.
This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and
uncertainties, including competition in the marketplace for the company's
products and other risks detailed from time to time in the reports filed by
SyQuest with the SEC, including the reports on Forms 10-Q and 10-K.
SyQuest and the SyQuest logo are registered trademarks of SyQuest Technology,
Inc. All other brands or tradenames are the property of their respective
companies.
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SYQUEST TECHNOLOGY, INC.
CONSOLIDATED CONDENSED INCOME STATEMENT
(In thousands, except per share data)
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
(Unaudited) (Audited)
Three months ended Twelve months ended
September 30, September 30,
----------------------------------------------
1996 1995 1996 1995
--------- --------- ---------- ---------
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C>
Net revenues $ 44,836 $ 88,375 $ 200,407 $299,544
Cost of revenues 34,770 93,142 248,693 248,497
-------- -------- --------- --------
Gross Profit (loss) 10,066 (4,767) (48,286) 51,047
Operating Expenses:
Selling, general & administrative 12,815 14,072 51,743 44,264
Research and development 5,468 6,408 25,920 23,892
Restructuring (733) - 4,727 -
-------- -------- --------- --------
Total operating expenses 17,550 20,480 82,390 68,156
Income (loss) from operations (7,484) (25,247) (130,676) (17,109)
Other income (expense) (2,650) (86) (1,938) 468
Interest income (expense) (294) 195 (1,037) 1,134
-------- -------- --------- --------
Income (loss) before income taxes (10,428) (25,138) (133,651) (15,507)
Provision (benefit) for income taxes - (6,032) 3,000 (3,721)
-------- -------- --------- --------
Net income $(10,428) $(19,106) $(136,651) $(11,786)
======== ======== ========= ========
Income (loss) per share $ (1.29) $ (1.69) $ (12.38) $ (1.07)
======== ======== ========= ========
Common and common equivalent shares
used in computing per share amounts 11,497 11,063 11,497 11,063
======== ======== ========= ========
</TABLE>
The computations of earnings per share for the quarter and for the
year, ending September 30, 1996, include charges of $4,599 and $5,733,
respectively, associated with the assured yield for the discount from
fair market value related to conversion of the Company's 7%
Convertible Preferred Stock. There are no such charges included in
the September 30, 1995 earnings per share calculations.
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SYQUEST TECHNOLOGY, INC.
CONSOLIDATED CONDENSED BALANCE SHEET
(In thousands)
(Audited)
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30,
----------------------
Current assets: 1996 1995
---------- ---------
<S> <C> <C>
Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments $ 3,670 $ 29,648
Accounts, receivable, net 30,341 55,653
Inventories, net 10,538 34,213
Prepaid expenses and deferred income taxes 2,471 15,320
--------- --------
Total current assets 47,020 134,834
Net plant, property and equipment 27,180 26,720
Other assets 981 3,130
--------- --------
$ 75,181 $164,684
========= ========
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable $ 23,917 $ 41,213
Bank borrowings 19,629 -
Provision for losses on purchase commitments - 10,510
Accrued compensation and other liabilities 18,671 20,416
Income taxes payable 1,966 355
Current portion of long-term debt $ 20,188 $ -
--------- --------
Total current liabilities 84,371 72,494
Deferred income taxes - 8,726
Long-term debt 20,971 -
Other long-term liabilities 192 276
Stockholder's equity:
Preferred stock 18 -
Common stock 14 13
Additional paid in capital 102,580 79,489
Treasury stock (12,855) (12,855)
Retained earnings (deficit) (120,110) 16,541
--------- --------
Total stockholder's equity (deficit) (30,353) 83,188
--------- --------
$ 75,181 $164,684
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