Business
Westaim announces 2005 year-end results
Westaim announces 2005 year-end results.
About this update from Westaim Corporation
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n\n\n\nCALGARY, Feb. 15 /CNW/ - The Westaim Corporation announced today that for\nthe year ended December 31, 2005, it recorded net income of $9.3 million, or\n10 cents per share compared to a net loss of $25.2 million, or 30 cents per\nshare, in the previous year. For the three months ended December 31, 2005, the\nCompany posted net income of $22.0 million, or 24 cents per share compared to\na net loss of $10.6 million, or 11 cents per share in the same period in the\nprevious year. Westaim's results for both the year and the fourth quarter\nbenefited from a $30.1 million gain on the issuance of shares of its NUCRYST\nsubsidiary.\nAt December 31, 2005, Westaim had $119.6 million in cash and short term\ninvestments, compared to $101.1 million at December 31, 2004.\nIn the fourth quarter of 2005, Westaim's NUCRYST Pharmaceuticals\nsubsidiary completed an initial public offering of 4,500,000 common shares at\na price of US$10 per share. NUCRYST common shares are now traded on the Nasdaq\nNational Market under the trading symbol NCST and on the Toronto Stock\nExchange under the trading symbol NCS. Westaim continues to own approximately\n75.3 per cent of NUCRYST's outstanding common shares.\n\"2005 marked a solid year of performance and significant milestone\nachievements for both NUCRYST and iFire,\" said Barry M. Heck, President & CEO\nof Westaim. \"Westaim was pleased with the results of the IPO for NUCRYST and\nis encouraged with the progress of NUCRYST's pre-clinical research for its\nnanocrystalline silver. iFire is now in pilot manufacturing, a major step in\nthe commercialization of its TDEL flat panel technology.\"\n\nReview of Operations:\n\niFire Technology\niFire Technology's pilot production facility began operation at the end\nof 2005. The $46-million pilot facility was completed on time and on budget.\nThrough pilot production, iFire intends to complete the baseline processes for\nthe manufacture of its displays and focus on continual improvements to both\nperformance and manufacturing efficiency.\nThe pilot facility is intended to produce engineering samples of high-\ndefinition 34-inch flat panel display modules based on its proprietary thick\ndielectric electroluminescent (TDEL) technology and to simulate manufacturing\nin a commercial environment. iFire expects to commercialize its technology in\npartnershi...