Fischer hurt by drop in OEM shipments

A sharp drop in product shipments to OEMs in the fourth quarterstung x-ray vendor Fischer Imaging, which reported disappointingyear-end and fourth-quarter financial results last week. The Denvercompany said that a decline in shipments of its Tilt-C C-arm toGE Medical Systems contributed to a 50% drop in OEM sales forthe fourth quarter.

For the year (end-December), Fischer posted revenues of $77.5million, up slightly from revenues of $76.8 million in 1995. Thecompany had a net loss for the year of $361,000, compared withnet income of $2.3 million in 1995.

Fischer's slide was even worse in the fourth quarter, when thecompany recorded revenues of $14.6 million, down 36% comparedwith sales of $23 million in the same period the year before.The vendor's net loss for the most recent quarter was $2.6 million,compared with net income of $1.5 million in the fourth quarterof 1995.