Agilent to lift pay cuts

<p>Agilent Technologies, Sonoma County’s biggest high-tech employer, is seeing signs that business is improving. </p><p>In a sign of renewed confidence about the future, Agilent said Monday it will restore employees to full pay on Nov. 1. The company cut workers salaries by 10 percent in January to preserve cash.</p><p>“We are cautiously optimistic that the worst is behind us,” Agilent CEO Bill Sullivan told Wall Street analysts in a conference call Monday.</p><p>Orders, a key barometer of demand for products, increased slightly in the third quarter ending July 31, Agilent’s Santa Rosa-based electronic measurement business reported. </p><p>But the Santa Rosa division is still feeling the effects of the recession that has pummeled the tech sector. The unit’s sales fell to $524 million in the third quarter, a 6 percent drop from the second quarter and a 36 percent decline from the same period last year. </p><p>Companywide, quarterly sales sank to $1 billion, down 27 percent from 2008. </p><p>Still, Sullivan said Agilent’s sales slump may have bottomed out last quarter. </p><p>“Compared with three months ago, we have more confidence that the quarter just ended will represent the cyclical low point for Agilent,” he said. </p><p>Agilent laid off 300 employees at its Santa Rosa unit in April as the economic downturn ravaged its global sales. The Santa Clara-based company now has about 1,050 employees in Sonoma County, down from its peak of 6,000 regular and temporary workers eight years ago. </p><p>Cost-cutting measures — including the layoffs of 3,800 employees worldwide — will save Agilent more than $500 million by next April. </p><p>On Monday, the company said it lost $19 million or 6 cents a share in the quarter, due largely to restructuring and other one-time costs. </p><p>Excluding those items, Agilent earned $53 million, or 15 cents per share. On a comparable basis, the company earned $198 million a year ago. </p><p>“We’ve definitely seen stabilization,” said Ron Nersesian, vice president and general manager of the measurement group. There’s been a bump in orders from China, where Agilent sells test equipment to cell phone and smart phone makers, he said. </p><p>The Santa Rosa business also has gained from aerospace and defense work, Nersesian said. </p><p>“We’re performing substantially ahead of where we expected to be,” he said. </p><p>The company said fourth-quarter results should improve over last quarter, with adjusted earnings of 20 to 25 cents per share. Agilent could see a “modest” recovery starting in 2010, it said. </p><p>The forecast exceeded analyst expectations, and Agilent shares rose 2.7 percent to $24.20 in after-hours trading.</p>