Defense Cutbacks Leave Perceptronics With a Loss

The ongoing cutbacks in defense spending left Perceptronics Inc. with a $1.95-million loss in its fiscal third quarter, compared with a year-earlier profit of $49,036.

The Woodland Hills-based producer of simulators and other training equipment said the loss came on a 71% plunge in its revenue, to $1.71 million for the quarter ended Dec. 31 from $5.82 million a year earlier.

“The continued hiatus in new defense contracts at Perceptronics, reflecting the worldwide reduction in defense expenditures, severely affected our results,” Chairman Gershon Weltman said in a statement. A “significant improvement” is unlikely until at least the quarter ending June 30, he said.

Perceptronics also lost $4.85 million during the first nine months of its current fiscal year, against a $380,109 profit a year earlier, and its nine-month revenue tumbled 48%, to $9.51 million from $18.1 million.