Finisar, the top-ranked supplier of optical components and subsystems for fiber-optic communications, has posted a net loss of $6.2 million for its opening quarter of fiscal 2013, which ended on July 29.

The loss compares with a net profit of $18 million made by the company in the immediately preceding quarter, and reflects a slump in sales revenues to a two-year low (see figure, right), amid weak spending by European telecommunications providers in particular.

Revenues fell to $220.5 million in the latest quarter, down 8% sequentially and putting a squeeze on Finisar’s operating margins. The California company’s non-GAAP results made for better reading, but operating income still dropped by nearly half, with the weak macroeconomic environment held responsible.

“Generally, telecom spending throughout the world has been soft. In addition, we had two fewer shipping days in the first quarter than in the previous quarter," said Jerry Rawls, Finisar’s former CEO and now executive chairman.

Like so many before him, Rawls identified weak spending in Europe and slowing economic growth in China as the chief reasons for the sales slump, although he is expecting a return to growth in the current quarter, and believes that a new period of stronger spending to boost optical network capacities could be just around the corner.

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