Dense Pac Microsystems Inc

Beneventure Founders Risicokapitaalfonds II N.V. lowered its stake in Dense Pac Microsystems Inc. to 7.78%. The firm sold 282,000 shares of Dense Pac common stock at prices ranging from $6 to $6.56 per share, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It now holds about 1.3 million shares in Garden Grove-based Dense Pac.

Computer memory chip packager Dense-Pac Microsystems Inc., offering a sliver of bullish news in the beleaguered technology sector, said it plans a modest increase in its work force as part of a recent uptick in business. Its shares climbed more than 29%, or 59 cents a share, to close at $2.60 on Nasdaq. The stock traded as high as $17.69 last July.

Dense-Pac Microsystems Inc. said Monday that it has received a $550,000 order from an undisclosed military customer. Dense-Pac said the order is for its electrically erasable, programmable read-only memory for use in a military program. The company expects to ship the order next quarter. Dense-Pac designs and makes three-dimensional high-density memory products.

* Ameron International Corp. reported a 15% rise in second-quarter earnings on higher demand. The Pasadena-based maker of pipes for major construction projects reported net income for the period ended May 31 of $7.0 million, or $1.78 per share, compared with $6.2 million, or $1.55, a year ago. Sales rose 3% to $143.7 million. * The state Court of Appeal in Santa Ana has upheld an $870,000 jury award for a former Amplicon Inc.

The Garden Grove maker of electronic design and manufacturing systems posted a fourth-quarter loss of $669,000, or 3 cents a share, compared with a profit of $864,000, or 4 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue for the three months ended Feb. 28 rose 22% to $8 million. For the fiscal year, the company earned $1.8 million, or 9 cents a share, down from $2.6 million, or 13 cents a share, the previous year. Revenue rose 30% to $35.8 million.

Dense-Pac Microsystems Inc. said Monday it has sold its TypeHaus unit to the unit's management for cash and a secured note. Financial details were not disclosed. Dense-Pac said the unit, which provides printing services for laser printing, was acquired in 1997. Garden Grove-based Dense-Pac makes three-dimensional high-density semiconductor packaging products.

Dense-Pac Microsystems Inc., a Garden Grove maker of high-density semiconductor products, said Thursday that it has signed a letter of intent to buy a Laguna Hills engineering and manufacturing outsourcing firm for $6 million in stock and debt. Dense-Pac said in a press release that it plans to buy Productivity Enhancement Products Inc., which has generated $7 million in revenue over the past 12 months.

Dense-Pac Microsystems Inc. shares moved lower again Thursday after the one analyst who covers the company lowered his rating. The Garden Grove company's stock, which tumbled more than 30% Wednesday, fell nearly 20%, or $1.31, on Thursday to close at $5.31 in Nasdaq trading. The first-day sell-off came after the company, which builds computer memory systems, warned that a shortage of some computer chips will hurt business in the current quarter.

Dense-Pac Microsystems Inc. said its fiscal second-quarter profit will be hurt by a shortage of direct random-access memory chips, sending its shares down 30%. Garden Grove-based Dense-Pac builds condensed, high-power memory for computers by linking together semiconductors. Dense-Pac said its earnings for the quarter ending Aug. 31 will fall below the 7-cents-a-share forecast of Thomas Weisel Partners' Eric Gomberg, the only analyst who tracks the company's earnings. Dense-Pac shares fell $2.

Shares of Dense-Pac Microsystems Inc. tumbled Wednesday after the Garden Grove builder of high-powered computer memory systems said its second-quarter results will be hurt by a shortage of some types of chips. The stock fell 30.3%, the third largest percentage loss in U.S. markets Wednesday, and has fallen 59% from its peak on July 21. Dense-Pac shares closed at $6.63, down $2.88, in Nasdaq trading. The company builds condensed, high-power memory for computers by linking semiconductors.