MELVILLE, NY -- Park Electrochemical reported net sales of $31.5 million for the quarter ended May 29, down 16.7% from a year ago.

Net earnings were $2.95 million, down from $4.78 million in last year’s first quarter.

Park reported fourth-quarter net earnings of $4.6 million on sales of $35.8 million for last year’s fourth quarter.

The PCB laminates maker reported net earnings before special items of $2.99 million in the period, compared to net earnings before special items of $4.87 million a year ago. The current results included pretax restructuring charges of $70,000 related to the fiscal 2009 closure of its New England Laminates Co. facility in Newburgh, NY.

During the quarter, Park's electronics sales were $23.8 million, or 76% of total sales, in the FY16 first quarter compared to $28.1 million, or 74% of total sales, and $26.9 million, or 75% of total sales, in the fiscal 2016 first and fourth quarters, respectively.

Sales to North America made up 53% of total sales, Europe was 8% of total sales, and Asia was 39% of total sales. Sales of high-performance non-FR-4 electronics materials were 94% of total electronics material sales.

In a conference call, CEO Brian Shore said, "North America has become less of a driver for Park for electronics. The reason you see a bigger percentage of revenues in North America is really aerospace-related, because a large majority of our aerospace revenues are from North America. North America has been more or less stable, from an electronics perspective. But ... electronics in North America are not going to be the big contributor in the future; it's not the growth market."

The top five customers, in alphabetical order, were Daeduck Electronics, GE, Sanmina, Shennan Circuits and TTM. The top five customers totaled approximately 39% of total sales during the first quarter, while Park's top 10 customers totaled approximately 52% of total sales.

Shore said Park has signed a joint development agreement with a large electronics company in Asia to develop a niche product.

Park's major end-markets for electronic materials are telecom and Internet infrastructure, wireless, and military.