Credence Corp. today announced its fourth-quarter results for the period ended July 31, 2009, as well as its expectations for fiscal 2010. The provider of chip testing equipment reported a loss for its fiscal fourth-quarter and full-year results, but gave positive guidance for the first quarter of 2010.

The company reported sales for the fourth quarter at $35,176,000, a 43 percent increase over the third quarter of 2009, surpassing its previous quarterly guidance. Credence posted a fourth-quarter net loss of $9,622,000, or 8 cents per share, on a GAAP basis, as compared to earnings of $630,000, or 1 cent per share, for the same period last year.

The company also released its fiscal 2009 results, posting sales for the 12 months at $137,378,000. Net loss was reported at $(137,332,000), or $1.13 per share, on a GAAP basis, as compared to a loss of $600,000, or 1 cent per share, for the year prior.

“Our fourth-quarter sales were stronger than we had expected and represents significant improvement over our third-quarter results. We believe our business has moved off the cycle bottom and continued growth is expected in our 2010 first fiscal quarter, a quarter in which we expect to return to generating positive EBITDA. With the integration efforts complete, and as we start our new fiscal year, the focus for LTXC is growth within existing customers and gaining share with new customers in specific market segments where we can bring differentiating capability that delivers the lowest cost of test,” Dave Tacelli, CEO and president of Credence stated in the press release.

Credence’s outlook for the quarter ending October 31, 2009 includes revenue estimates between $40 million and $42 million, an increase of 14 percent to 19 percent from the fiscal fourth quarter.

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