SAN JOSE -- Flex today reported net sales grew 3% over last year to $6.9 billion for its third quarter ended Dec. 31.

The company, which makes printed circuits and offers EMS services, swung to a net loss of $45 million. The pretax loss was $32 million. Cash flow from operations was -$621 million.

Adjusted operating income rose 17% to $256 million, and adjusted net income jumped 10% to $181 million. Adjusted cash flow from operations and free cash flow was $274 million and $119 million, respectively.

By sector, communications and enterprise computing year saw growth of 14%, industrial and emerging industries was up 11%, high reliability solutions was down 1% as strong growth in health solutions was offset by weakness in automotive, and consumer was down 12%.

“During the quarter, we grew revenues, improved the quality of our sales mix, expanded margins, returned to free cash flow generation, and streamlined our investment portfolio,” said Michael Capellas, chairman, Flex. “These results reflect our intense focus on execution in our core businesses.”

Flex ended the quarter with approximately $1.5 billion of cash on hand and total debt of approximately $2.9 billion.

“We are pleased with the results of our third quarter, which exceeded expectations on multiple levels. Our core business remains sound and is performing very well, and our balance sheet is positioned to support the business over the long term,” said Chris Collier, CFO.

Flex guided for fiscal fourth quarter revenue of $6.2 billion to $6.6 billion, and pretax income of $110 million to $140 million.

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