Second quarter sees Hayes ring up a profit

Modem manufacturer Hayes made $1.8 million profit in its second quarter of 1996, its first trading quarter since emerging from Chapter 11 in April.

For the three months ended 30 June, the firm had sales of $68.8 million - a 17.8 per cent increase over the same period last year when it sold $58.4 million of product.

It made a Q2 profit of $1.8 million, compared with a $1.4 million loss for the same period last year.

Jeremy Butt, general manager at Hayes Europe, said that the UK business had seen an upward turn in a number of accounts. 'Business usually slackens off during the summer months, but in some of our accounts we are outselling all of our major competitors,' he said.

'I find this extremely encouraging as we approach the peak-selling period of autumn and believe the price reductions we made at the beginning of July have contributed to the increase in business.'

The company's half-year results showed a 17 per cent increase in sales, from $124.7 million in 1995 to $146 million in 1996. This year's profit of $8.6 million compares with a $2.9 million loss last year.