Amplicon

Amplicon Inc. shares fell 4.4% after the company warned that revenue in its fiscal fourth quarter will fall short of last year's. Shares of the Santa Ana company, which rents and sells computers and related equipment, fell 81 cents, to $17.50. Earlier in the day, the shares traded as low as $15. Amplicon said lagging equipment sales and loss of new business pulled down fourth-quarter revenue, which the company said will probably be 15% less than the $82.

Amplicon Inc., a Santa Ana computer equipment leasing company, said it has reorganized itself into a bank holding company called California First National Bancorp. CalFirst, in turn, now owns the Amplicon business as well as California First National Bank, which it acquired. It invested $20 million in the bank so it could begin operations.

Amplicon Inc. of Santa Ana reported earnings of $4.9 million for its 1987 fiscal year ended June 30, up 17% from the $4.2 million posted in its fiscal 1986. Revenues for the year rose 49% to $74 million, from $49.7 million a year earlier. Earnings for the fourth quarter were $1.45 million, up 12% from the $1.3 million posted in the final quarter of fiscal 1986. Revenues for the fourth quarter of fiscal 1987 increased 66% to $21.7 million, from $13.

The Santa Ana company, which leases high-technology equipment, reported that net earnings for the third quarter that ended March 31 decreased 23% to $4.1 million, or 36 cents a share, from $5.3 million, or 45 cents a share, for the third quarter last year. Revenue declined 17% to $16.5 million.

Dear Editor: Your one-paragraph item on our company, Amplicon Inc., published Jan. 1, characterizes a lawsuit recently filed against our company as "a continuation of a string of contract litigations against the company." In fact, nearly all litigation involving Amplicon, including the three cases cited in the brief, has been filed by our company, not against it. What's more, nearly all of these lawsuits--including those cited in the brief, as well as those few not initiated by us--have ended in substantial monetary settlements or adjudications in Amplicon's favor, with the courts upholding the enforceability of our contracts.

The Santa Ana provider of mid-range computers and components posted net income of $5.3 million, or 45 cents a share, for its fiscal third quarter ended March 31. It earned $4.8 million, or 39 cents a share, in last year's third quarter. Revenue rose to $19.9 million from $16.9 million. For the first nine months, Amplicon earned $14.9 million, or $1.25 a share, ahead of $14.6 million, or $1.19 a share, earned in the same period last year. Revenue rose to $54.7 million for the period from $51.

The state Supreme Court has refused to review a lower court's decision to reinstate an $870,000 jury award for a former Amplicon Inc. employee who alleged that the company's top executive assaulted him and dragged him out of the Santa Ana office during an argument. The decision Monday means that former worker J. Scott McFetters can accept the money or opt for another trial that would include additional claims that had been thrown out in Orange County Superior Court.

A state appeals court, reversing a lower court ruling, has reinstated an $870,000 jury award to a former Amplicon Inc. employee who alleged that the Santa Ana company's top executive struck him and dragged him out of an office during an argument. The 4th District Court of Appeal said the former worker, J. Scott McFetters, can accept the money or opt for another trial before a different Orange County Superior Court judge.