Investment - Page 10

Crocus Technology SA, a startup company specializing in magnetic random access memory, has raised $17 million in a Series A round of financing.

The money would be used to allow Crocus (Grenoble, France) to hire engineers and scientists in process engineering, test and design from Europe and the United States, Sofinnova Ventures said. Crocus also needs money to acquire specialized equipment to enable the company to complete a first memory test vehicle within 12 months and its first commercial product shortly thereafter, Sofinnova added.

Product sales for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2006 increased 76% over the prior year to $2.80 million from $1.59 million. Total revenue, consisting of product sales and contract research and development revenue, increased 13% to $3.48 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2006 compared to $3.07 million in the prior-year quarter. Income before taxes for the quarter was $978,493 or $0.21 per diluted share, compared to $349,209 or $0.07 per diluted share for the prior-year quarter. After the effect of a provision for income taxes of $358,749, net income for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2006 was $619,744 or $0.13 per share. Net income for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2005 was $476,113 or $0.10 per share including an income tax benefit of $126,904 or $0.03 per share.
"We are pleased to report record product sales, total revenue, and pretax profit for the fourth quarter and fiscal year," said NVE President and Chief Executive Officer Daniel A. Baker, Ph.D. "Operating income for the quarter more than tripled, driven by strong product sales. We enter fiscal 2007 with a solid balance sheet, products that are in demand, and an excellent intellectual property portfolio."

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Product sales for the quarter increased 56% over the prior year to $1.74 million from $1.12 million. Total revenue, consisting of product sales and contract research and development revenue, increased 2% to $2.61 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2006 compared to $2.56 million in the prior-year quarter. Income before taxes for the quarter was $614,664 or $0.13 per diluted share, compared to $375,172 or $0.08 per diluted share for the prior-year quarter. After the effect of a provision for income taxes of $213,279, net income for the third quarter of fiscal 2006 was $401,385 or $0.09 per diluted share, compared to $375,172 or $0.08 per diluted share in the third quarter of fiscal 2005.

Product sales for the quarter increased 39% over the prior-year to $2.02 million from $1.45 million. Total revenue, consisting of product sales and contract research and development revenue, declined 1% to $3.05 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2006 compared to $3.10 million in the prior- year quarter.

Income before taxes for the quarter was $592,505 or $0.13 per diluted share, compared to $423,298 or $0.09 per diluted share for the prior- year quarter. After the effect of a provision for income taxes of $228,537, net income for the second quarter of fiscal 2006 was $363,968 or $0.08 per diluted share.

In an effort to someday profit off of the manufacturer of surface-conduction electron-emitter display or SED devices, Canon yesterday bought 53.9% of NEC Machinery and all of NEC Machinery’s shares in Anelva Corp., a subsidiary of NEC Corp. Anelva is a japanese company that manufactures major equipment for the fabrication of semiconductors and LCDs using vacuum technology. Anelva developed a 200- to 300-mm-wafer-compliant deposition (sputtering) equipment for MRAM, the C-7100, using their unique low-pressure plasma deposition technique.

Product sales for the quarter increased 31% over the prior-year quarter to $1.78 million from $1.36 million. Total revenue, which consisted of product sales and contract research and development revenue, was $3.03 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2006 compared to $2.89 million for the prior-year quarter, an increase of 5%. Income before taxes for the quarter was $655,117 or $0.14 per diluted share, compared to $483,671 or $0.10 per diluted share for the prior-year quarter. After the effect of a non-cash provision for income taxes of $242,468, net income for the first quarter of fiscal 2006 was $412,649 or $0.09 per diluted share.
"We are pleased to report another quarter of record product sales and solid profits," said NVE President and Chief Executive Officer Daniel A. Baker, Ph.D. "Sales of spintronic medical sensors and spintronic couplers were especially strong. Pretax margin improved to 22% due to a more favorable revenue mix and reduced expenses. Our cash plus investments increased by $774,215 during the quarter and we eliminated all of NVE's long-term debt."

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Micromem announced today that they have signed an agreement with the University of Toronto (UT) giving Micromem exclusive world wide rights to all MRAM technology developed at the University and funded on behalf of Micromem Technologies. This proprietary technology was initially discovered and developed under collaborative research projects led by Professor Harry Ruda of the University of Toronto and co-funded by Micromem Technologies and two divisions of the Ontario Center of Excellence which include the Materials Manufacturing division of Ontario (MMO), and the Communications and Information Technology division of Ontario (CITO).

The license agreement with the University allows Micromem access to this MRAM technology on favorable financial terms, and provides Micromem substantially greater benefit than the company's previous licensing agreement with Estancia.

The deal gives Micromem full control over the last three years of technological innovation including the development of the single bit memory prototype announced last February. The company now has worldwide exclusivity on all prior, current, and future patent applications relating to this MRAM technology.
In addition the agreement strongly positions Micromem to explore industrial partnerships to accelerate the development and availability of commercial MRAM products.

Total revenue for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2005 was $3.07 million compared to $3.21 million for the prior-year quarter, a decrease of 4%. Product sales for the quarter increased 3% over the prior-year quarter and 42% compared to the third quarter of fiscal 2005.

Net income for the fourth quarter was $476,114 or $0.10 per diluted share, compared to $789,670 or $0.16 per diluted share for the prior-year quarter. Net income for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2005 included a net income tax benefit of $126,904 or $0.03 per diluted share, compared to $236,500 or $0.05 per diluted share for the fiscal 2004 quarter, from reductions of valuation allowances relating to deferred tax assets.

The patent application was filed January 31, 2005 and will help to secure the company in its go forward strategy. This strategy relies on innovations made by the company through the work of Professor Harry Ruda, the University of Toronto and its collaborators. This patent filing encompasses compositions of matter as well as methods of making an MRAM device.

"This most recent filing will serve as a keystone in our patent portfolio as the company places great importance on its patent portfolio strategy. MRAM is undoubtedly a competitive industry and therefore we will continue to pay great attention to securing our business in that space," said the company's CTO, Dr. Cynthia Kuper.