Sales and profits fall at Fischer

Fischer Imaging chief executive Morgan Nields blamed "a radical restructuring"of theU.S. imaging equipment market for sales and profit declines in1994 for the Denver-based general radiography equipment manufacturer.

Revenue for the year ending Dec. 31, 1994, was $68.4 million,compared to $73.3 million in 1993. The company lost $5.6 millionin 1994 after reporting a break-even performance for the previousyear.

Fourth-quarter trends were also down. As revenue fell 5.6%to $18.3 million, Fischer posted a fourth-quarter loss of $980,000,compared to a profit of $462,000 for the same period of 1993.The downturn was attributed principally to delays in anticipatedoriginal equipment manufacturer shipments, caused by customer-requesteddesign changes in 1994, according to the company.

Nields linked Fischer's performance last year with an estimated30% revenue decline in $1 billion domestic diagnostic x-ray equipmentmarket in 1994.

"We believe the market is undergoing a continuing radicalrestructuring as providers and payors realign strategies in acompetitive marketplace," he said.