ANAHEIM, CA -- Multi-Fineline Electronix (M-Flex) today preannounced record revenue for its recently completed December quarter, citing new program wins and the seasonal demand.

The flexible printed circuit board maker expects to report net sales of about $241 million, for its fiscal first quarter ended Dec. 31. The amount would mark the highest quarterly amount in company history, and would be up 5% from the same quarter last year. Gross margin is expected to be 14.2%, compared to 15.9% for the same period in the prior year.

Chief executive Reza Meshgin said, "We expect first-quarter gross margins to be in line with previous guidance and we continue to be proactive in identifying areas within our operations where we can achieve cost savings.  As a result, we have been able to partially offset the gross margin impact from the recent higher labor costs in China, pricing pressure, and unfavorable currency fluctuations."

One customer, which the company did not disclose, made up 10% percent of overall net sales in the quarter.

The PCB company guided for fiscal second-quarter net sales of $210 million to $240 million, up from net sales of $154.1 million in fiscal 2010.  Gross margin in the second quarter of fiscal 2011 is expected to range between 13 to 15%  based on the projected product mix and sales volume.

"Based on our current visibility, it appears that customer demand will remain very healthy in what has historically been a seasonally soft quarter for M-Flex," Meshgin said. "Looking further ahead, the solid relationships we enjoy among our existing customer base, traction we are gaining from potential new OEMs and the availability of our new manufacturing capacity currently on-line in China gives us confidence in our belief that we can generate net sales growth in fiscal 2011 of 10 to 20% or slightly higher."