Archive Corp. Earnings Rise to Record Level

COSTA MESA — Archive Corp. said Monday that its earnings and revenues rose to record levels for its 1989 fiscal year, boosted by increased demand for products that back up data stored on computers to prevent accidental loss.

The company’s net income for the year ended Sept. 29 rose 46% to $15.3 million, up from $10.5 million in fiscal 1988; revenue jumped nearly 48% to $181.4 million, from $122.7 million a year earlier.

For the fourth quarter, revenue rose 37% to $49.7 million, up from $36.3 million in the corresponding period in 1988. Earnings grew 31% to $4.2 million, up from $3.2 million.

Archive Chairman D. Howard Lewis said the company’s financial results reflected increasing sales to computer resellers and retailers as well as to computer manufacturers. Archive manufactures tape backup devices that are used to make copies of computer data stored in hard disk drives.

“While fiscal 1989 brought growth from all segments of our business, our steady progress in Europe and the Pacific Rim has been the most gratifying,” Lewis said. He said international sales made up 27% of the company’s sales and rose 60% over 1988.

Lewis said earnings were helped by a cost-reduction program put in place during 1989 that helped cut manufacturing costs.