Oclaro (Bookham + Avanex) Makes Debut

Bookham and Avanex Corporation, both suppliers of optical networking components, completed their merger and officially launched a new company -- Oclaro. Oclaro, with headquarters in San Jose, California, will leverage proprietary core technologies and vertically integrated product development to provide innovative optical devices, modules and subsystems.
The company's stock will trade on the NASDAQ Global Market with the stock symbol "OCLR," beginning at the start of trading on April 28, 2009.


"The closing of this merger is a significant milestone in our quest to be a predominant force in the fiber optics industry," said Alain Couder, president and CEO, Oclaro. "By uniting the best components expertise of Bookham with the modules and subsystems best expertise of Avanex, Oclaro has the necessary products and technologies under one roof to become a market setter in the future of the fiber optic market."


Separately, Oclaro reported quarterly revenues of $47.0 million, compared to $50.2 million in the prior quarter and $59.7 million in the same period last year. The figures represent the results of Bookham. Revenues include $1.9 million recognized upon collection of cash from shipments made to Nortel Networks and a related contract manufacturer. An aggregate of $5.4 million in revenue related to shipments to these customers (including the $1.9 million recognized in this quarter), had been deferred from recognition as revenues as payment was not deemed to be collectable at the time of shipment.


Gross margin for the third quarter of fiscal 2009 was 23 percent, compared to gross margin of 17 percent in the prior quarter. Net loss was $13.3 million, or a net loss of $0.13 per share.


"Despite the lower third quarter revenues that were driven by the economic downturn, we held our adjusted EBITDA close to break even," said Alain Couder, president and CEO of Oclaro, Inc. "We continued to execute throughout our business as we positioned ourselves towards achieving our goal of profitability. Moving forward, we expect the merger with Avanex Corporation, which closed today, to further accelerate our progress towards profitability. Under our new corporate name, "Oclaro," our combined companies are well positioned to leverage our complementary product portfolios, operational synergies and strong balance sheet to accelerate our progress to our long-term financial model."http://www.oclaro.com