Aehr Test Systems 1Q profit rises on one-time gain

Aehr Test Systems 1Q profit rises on $3.3M gain from sale of a bankruptcy claim; sales drop

• On 4:47 pm EDT, Wednesday September 30, 2009

FREMONT, Calif. (AP) -- Aehr Test Systems, a maker of memory chip testing equipment, said Wednesday that its first-quarter profit rose 11 percent as it recorded a huge gain from the sale of a bankruptcy claim.

The one-time gain offset a steep drop in sales.

Aehr netted $3.3 million from selling part of a claim it held against its customer, flash memory drive-maker Spansion Inc. Spansion filed for Chapter 11 protection in March.

Fremont-based Aehr earned $961,000, or 11 cents per share, in the three months that ended Aug. 31. That is up from the $865,000, or 10 cents per share, it earned a year earlier.

The company's revenue fell 87 percent to $1.3 million from $9.7 million.

CEO Rhea Posedel said the company was suffering from weak capital spending trends in the semiconductor industry. It has cut costs to deal with the downturn.

Aehr shares fell 4 cents to $1.31 on Wednesday.