HUTCHINSON, MN – Hutchinson Technology reported a net loss of $7.2 million in fiscal fourth quarter 2011, compared to a net loss of $10.9 million in the previous quarter.

Fourth-quarter net sales were $74.4 million, up 3% sequentially.

Severe flooding in Thailand required the company to suspend assembly operations there in early October.

“Although we believe it will take multiple quarters, we fully intend to resume operations in Thailand,” said Wayne M. Fortun, the firm’s president and CEO.
Hutchinson is leveraging its US assembly operations to offset the temporary loss of capacity in Thailand.

The flooding is constraining the overall capacity of the hard disk drive supply chain. The resulting reduction in disk drive production is expected to result in a material decrease in demand for suspension assemblies in the company's fiscal 2012 first quarter, and the company estimates that its first quarter shipments will be 80 million to 100 million.

In the company's fiscal fourth quarter, its shipments of suspension assemblies increased 8% sequentially to 127.4 million.