Planar reacts to poor quarter - Portland Business Journal:

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Planar stock dropped more than 20 closingat $2.28 on Wednesday. But at least one Wall Streert analyst said that the restructuring Planar is nowundertakingv -- including having its underperforming home theater businessw report directly to CEO Gerry Perkel -- bodes well for the Beaverton-headquarteresd specialty display company. LLC analyst Jay Srivastaz believes Planar is at the beginning ofa recovery, basesd in part on his own estimates and on the company's guidance for revenue growth in its next two "Gerry (Perkel) is tryinyg to do the right thing in streamlining the whole investing in some areas and backing off on others," Srivast a said.
Planar reported Tuesday that Scott Hix, a former executivwe at InFocus and leaderof Planar's new home theater business for the past two years, will leave the company on May 2. Perkekl said he and Hix "have had some conversations for some aboutthe business. "We neededs to make changes and lower said Perkel. "Consolidating management was therighft step." Two other Planar executives have recently and rather than hiring replacements, the company has movexd their responsibilities to other executives.
"We'v e tried to consolidate to spend less at theexecutive level," said Planar said on Tuesdayy it will cut about 80 full-tim and part-time employees, from a peak of 788 employees during the second which closed at the end of March. The companyu reported a second-quarter loss of $5.2 or 29 cents per share, a sharl increase from last year's second-quarter loss of $3.9 millio n or 22 cents per share. The loss increased in spitse of a 28 percent increasedin revenue, to $69.8 million. Much of the increase is due to Planar'es acquisition of privately held California-based home theaterf company , for which Planar paid $36.
7 milliom in May last Planar's home theater business declined 25 percentg from first quarter tosecond quarter. Planar'xs control room and signage created out of the 2006 acquisitiobn of Wilsonvillecompany , had a 33 percent revenuer drop from first to secon quarter.