Power-One, Inc. announced that net sales were $91.2 million for the second quarter ended June 28, 2009, a decrease of 39% from $149.3 million in the second quarter of 2008. The net loss attributable to common stockholders, was $6.8 million, or $0.08 per share, compared to $3.9 million, or $0.04 per share, for the same period last year. Included in the net loss for the second quarter of 2009 was $3.9 million of restructuring charges which were primarily due to severance charges related to the previously announced plant closure in the Dominican Republic. The negative impact of the decline in sales on the second quarter results was partially offset by a net gain of $5.3 million on the repurchase of the company’s 8% senior secured convertible notes due 2013.
The difficult market environment continued to influence the Company’s sales during the quarter and resulted in a weakening in demand for power conversion products. Bookings of $89.0 million yielded a book to bill ratio of 0.98 in the second quarter of 2009.
For the second quarter of 2009, gross margin was 19.9% compared to 14.2% in the first quarter of 2009, and 20.5% in the year ago quarter. The sequential improvement in gross margin from the first quarter of 2009 was largely attributable to the cost reduction initiatives implemented by the company in previous quarters. In addition, S,G&A, engineering, quality assurance and amortization expenses decreased 32% to $21.3 million compared with $31.2 million for the second quarter of 2008.
The company continues to realign its global manufacturing resources and execute aggressive actions to streamline operations and reduce costs. During the second quarter, the company announced plans to close the Dominican Republic facility and expects to realize an annual savings of approximately $14 to $15 million from the closure. Other restructuring efforts reduced the company’s headcount by approximately 300, which resulted in a year-to-date headcount reduction of 1,300, or 29%.
Richard Thompson, Chief Executive Officer, commented, "While the market environment continued to impact our sales during the quarter, we remained focused on increasing overall operational efficiency and further decreasing our cost structure. Gross margin improved despite lower revenues, and we are on track to complete the transfer of production from the Dominican Republic facility, which will have a positive impact on our results in later periods."
Continuing, Thompson said, "The renewable energy market continues to show increasing promise having ramped throughout the last quarter. Additionally, our book to bill ratio improved for the first time in over 12 months suggesting that the demand curve may have reached an inflection point."
