Park Electrochemical sales down, profits up

Park Electrochemical Corp., a Melville-based manufacturer of high-tech materials, said its sales dipped as global demand for telecommunications equipment continued to wane.

The company's fiscal fourth-quarter sales dropped to $42.7 million during the three months ended in March, down 2.3 percent from the same period last year. The results fell short of the expectations of analysts, who had forecast revenue of $42.95 million.

Despite the drop in sales, Park Electrochemical's fourth-quarter profits rose to $4.1 million, up 29 percent compared to the quarter in 2012. That's because last year the company recorded a pretax charge of $1.25 million to close a factory in Waterbury, Conn.

Park Electrochemical manufactures materials used in circuit boards for the telecommunications and aerospace industries. The company's sales have been sluggish for several months as global economic uncertainty, particularly in Europe, left corporations and governments slow to invest in new telecom equipment, analysts said.

Park Electrochemical's stock fell 4.13 percent to close at $23.90 per share.