Friday, February 27, 2015

LPTH Press Release: LightPath Technologies to Present at the 27th Annual ROTH Conference on March 11, 2015

For Immediate Release:

LightPath Technologies to present at the 27th Annual ROTH Conference on March 11, 2015


ORLANDO, FL – February 27, 2015 --LightPath Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: LPTH) (“LightPath,” the “Company” or “we”), a leading vertically integrated global manufacturer, distributor and integrator of proprietary optical components and high-level assemblies, today announced today announced that the Company has been invited to present at the 27th Annual ROTH Conference, which is being held on March 9-11, 2015 at The Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel in Dana Point, California.
LightPath Technologies management is scheduled to present at 12:30 p.m. Pacific time on March 11, with one-on-one meetings held throughout the day.  For more information about the conference or to schedule a one-on-one meeting with LightPath Technologies management, please contact ROTH at OneonOneRequests@roth.com or Jordan Darrow of Darrow Associates at jdarrow@darrowir.com.

About LightPath Technologies:
LightPath Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: LPTH) provides optics and photonics solutions for the industrial, defense, telecommunications, testing and measurement, and medical industries. LightPath designs, manufactures, and distributes optical and infrared components including molded glass aspheric lenses and assemblies, infrared lenses and thermal imaging assemblies, fused fiber collimators, and gradient index GRADIUM® lenses. LightPath also offers custom optical assemblies, including full engineering design support.  For more information, visit www.lightpath.com.

This news release includes statements that constitute forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding our ability to expand our presence in certain markets, future sales growth, continuing reductions in cash usage and implementation of new distribution channels. This information may involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, factors detailed by LightPath Technologies, Inc. in its public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as required under the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission, we do not have any intention or obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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Friday, February 20, 2015

MONDAY! OSA, SPIE and IEEE Joint Student Chapter Seminar:"The 3 Laws of Communication" by Dr. Jean-luc Doumont 2.23.15/2:00-4:00pm/ CREOL 102/103

OSA, SPIE and IEEE Joint Student Chapter Seminar:"The 3 Laws of Communication" by Dr. Jean-luc Doumont
Monday, February 23, 2015 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM
CREOL Room 102/103

Celebrating the International Year of Light 2015


Dr. Jean-luc Doumont

Abstract:
Useful as each of them can be, a large body of tips and tricks is impossible to remember, at least in a practical, usable way, unless it is structured into a balanced, meaningful hierarchy. This talk proposes and illustrates three simple yet solid ideas that lead to more effective communication and that underpin every other guideline: easy to remember, readily applicable, and always relevant—in short, valuable for the rest of your life.

Biography:
An engineer (Louvain) and PhD in applied physics (Stanford), Jean-luc is acclaimed worldwide for his no-nonsense approach, his highly applicable, often life-changing recommendations on a wide range of topics, and Trees, maps, and theorems, c?his book about “effective communication for rational minds”.

For additional information: 

Colin Constant

Monday, February 16, 2015

SID/IEEE Joint Student Chapter Seminar: "Glasses-free 3D Displays" by Qiong-Hua Wang 2.20.15/ 11:00am-12:00pm/ CREOL RM 103

SID/IEEE Joint Student Chapter Seminar: "Glasses-free 3D Displays" by Qiong-Hua Wang
Friday, February 20, 2015 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM
CREOL Room 103

Celebrating the International Year of Light 2015


Qiong-Hua Wang
School of Electronics and Information Engineering, SichuanUniversity,
Chengdu, China

Abstract:
In this talk, I will give an overview on glasses-free 3D displays, front and rear projection autostereoscopic displays based on lenticular sheets and two kinds of dual-view integral imaging 3D displays. Some other research works on 3D displays at Sichuan University will be introduced briefly. 

Biography:
Qiong-Hua Wang is a professor of optics at the School of Electronics and Information Engineering, Sichuan University, China. She was a post-doctoral research fellow at the CREOL, The College of Optics and Photonics, University of Central Florida from 2001 to 2004. She received her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China in 1995 and 2001, respectively. She has published more than 200 papers on information displays. She holds 50 U.S. and Chinese patents. She is a senior member of the Society for Information Display (SID) and an associate editor of Journal of the Society for Information Display. Her recent research interests include optics and optoelectronics, especially display technologies.

For additional information: 

Fenglin Peng

IEEE Student Chapter Seminar: "Switching technologies for spatially and spectrally flexible optical networks" by Dr. Dan Marom 3.17.15/11:00am-12:00pm/ CREOL 103

IEEE Student Chapter Seminar: "Switching technologies for spatially and spectrally flexible optical networks" by Dr. Dan Marom
Tuesday, March 17, 2015 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM
CREOL Room 103

Celebrating the International Year of Light 2015


Prof. Dan M. Marom

Abstract:
Today’s fiber-optic communication networks span the globe, delivering broadband information across all market segments and connecting massive datacenters, businesses, and individual user’s homes.  As such, optical networks must operate reliably and efficiently when transporting the massive information capacity of the Internet, allowing networks to adapt to growing and changing demand flows and occasional interruptions.  Wavelength-selective switches (WSS) have been instrumental in fulfilling this role, enabling all-optical spectral routing of individual wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) communication channels at network nodes.
The recent introduction of space-division multiplexing (SDM) to the optical communication domain with new fiber types, in order to economically support the exponentially growing capacity, necessitates complementary components for implementing SDM-WDM optical networks. SDM is typically realized with either multi-core or few-mode fibers and great capacity achievements have been demonstrated to-date in each fiber solution. Wavelength-selective switching functionality for these two fiber types has recently been introduced. A joint-switching WSS concept has been realized for multi-core fibers, enabling information to be encoded and routed on the SDM-WDM optical network as a spatial super-channel (single wavelength channel spanning multiple cores). This spatial super-channel routing concept with joint-switching WSS also extends to few-mode fibers. Hence a single WSS can then be used in analogous fashion to the single-mode fiber networks, thereby heralding the cost-savings benefits of SDM. A WSS with direct few-mode fiber interfaces has been demonstrated with the few-mode beams routed in free-space just as the single mode beam does in a conventional WSS. A study on the pass band filtering effect and mode mixing due to the spectral switching of dispersed components revealed the spatial-spectral interplay in the mode-dependent loss attributes of the few-mode fiber WSS. Such advanced WSS prototypes will serve the next generation transport networks when SDM is fully adopted by carriers.

Biography:
Dan M. Marom is an Associate Professor in the Applied Physics Department at Hebrew University, Israel, heading the Photonic Devices Group. He received the B.Sc. Degree in Mechanical Engineering and the M.Sc. Degree in Electrical Engineering, both from Tel-Aviv University, Israel, in 1989 and 1995, respectively, and was awarded a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), in 2000.
His 20 year research career in optical communications started during his Master’s degree, where he investigated free-space, polarization rotation based bypass-exchange (2×2) space switches, which later on led to the founding of a start-up company. In his doctoral dissertation he demonstrated real-time optical signal processing using parametric nonlinearities applied to spectrally dispersed light, for possible modulation and detection schemes in serial ultrafast communications (tera-baud rate and beyond). From 2000 until 2005, he was a Member of the Technical Staff at the Advanced Photonics Research Department of Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies, where he invented and headed the research and development effort of MEMS based wavelength-selective switching solutions for optical networks. Since 2005, he has been with the Applied Physics Department, Hebrew University, Israel, where he is now an Associate Professor leading a research group pursuing his research interests in creating photonic devices and sub-systems for switching and manipulating optical signals, in guided-wave and free-space optics solutions using light modulating devices, nonlinear optics, and compound materials.
Prof. Marom is a Senior Member of the IEEE Photonics Society, and a Member of the Optical Society of America. From 1996 through 2000, he was a Fannie and John Hertz Foundation Graduate Fellow at UCSD, and was a Peter Brojde Scholar in 2006-2007. He currently serves as Senior Editor for Photonics Technology Letters, handling photonic devices related submissions.

For additional information: 
Ruidong Zhu

407-823-4923

Friday, February 6, 2015

LightPath Technologies Announces Fiscal 2015 Second Quarter Financial Results

For Immediate Release:

LightPath Technologies Announces Fiscal 2015 Second Quarter Financial Results


ORLANDO, FL – February 5, 2015 -- LightPath Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: LPTH) (“LightPath,” the “Company” or “we”), a leading vertically integrated global manufacturer, distributor and integrator of proprietary optical components and high-level assemblies, today announced financial results for the fiscal 2015 second quarter ended December 31, 2014.

Second Quarter Fiscal 2015 Highlights:
·         12-month backlog increased approximately 5% to $5.59 million at December 31, 2014 from September 30, 2014 and up approximately 8% from December 31, 2013.
·         Revenue for the second quarter of fiscal 2015 increased 15% to approximately $3.4 million compared to approximately $2.9 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2014.
·         Infrared revenues increase by more than 180% in the second quarter of fiscal 2015 compared to the second quarter of fiscal 2014.
·         Non-cash income of approximately $535,000, in the fiscal 2015 second quarter, related to the change in the fair value of warrant liability, up from non-cash expense of approximately $35,000 in same period of fiscal 2014.
·         For the second quarter of fiscal 2015, net income was approximately $141,000, or $0.01 per share, compared to net loss of $(202,000), or $(0.01) per share for the second quarter of fiscal 2014.
·         Gross margin was 38% in the second quarter of fiscal 2015 compared to 43% in the second quarter last year.
·         EBITDA was $294,000 in the second quarter of fiscal 2015 compared to $4,000 in the second quarter last year. 

Jim Gaynor, President and Chief Executive Officer of LightPath, commented, “Order bookings continued to improve broadly across our business, up 8% in the second quarter of fiscal 2015 compared to the second quarter of last year, and up 5% from the first quarter of fiscal 2015. Infrared bookings also increased significantly, up 563% in the second quarter of fiscal 2015 compared to the second quarter last year and up 31% from the first quarter of fiscal 2015. Total revenue grew to $3.4 million in the second quarter, up 29% from the first quarter of fiscal 2015 and approximately 15% as compared to the second quarter of fiscal 2014.”

“We remain vigilant in our efforts to improve our profitability and ultimately benefit from the leverage in our business, which is the primary reason we opened a second facility in China with a lower cost basis than our other manufacturing locations.  However, while we are transitioning work to the new Zhenjiang facility, margins have been temporarily pressured.  Gross margin for the second quarter of fiscal 2015 was 38%, impacted by severance costs incurred as we accelerated the transition from our Shanghai facility to our new facility in Zhenjiang, China. We are ahead of schedule in terms of transferring our manufacturing operations. Essentially all manufacturing operations are now moved to Zhenjiang. Over the course of the last two quarters, we have reduced our headcount in Shanghai from 121 to 29. Our sales, development engineering, and some administrative functions, including purchasing and customs support, will remain at our Shanghai facility. SG&A costs included $277,000 of non-recurring costs for fees incurred for outside professional services for certain strategic growth initiatives and possible acquisition opportunities, and $23,000 of severance costs for terminated employees.  If we exclude the non-recurring costs  incurred for transitioning between China locations and severance costs from the calculation, our gross margin in the second quarter, as adjusted, would have been 41%.”
Mr. Gaynor continued, “With the momentum through the first half of the year, the strategic initiatives we announced earlier this week for our aspheric lens and infrared lens businesses, the higher growth contributions from our infrared business, and our anticipated margin improvements, we are well positioned for substantial improvements in our profitability and cash flow generation going forward.” 
Financial Results for Three Months Ended December 31, 2014
Revenue for the second quarter of fiscal 2015 totaled approximately $3.4 million, which was an increase of $445,000, or 15%, as compared to the same period of the prior fiscal year.   The increase from the second quarter of the prior fiscal year is attributable to an increase in sales of precision molded lenses and an increase in sales of infrared products.

The gross margin as a percentage of revenue in the second quarter of fiscal 2015 was 38%, compared to 43% in the second quarter of fiscal 2014. Total manufacturing costs of $2.1 million increased by approximately $415,000 in the second quarter of fiscal 2015 compared to the same period of the prior fiscal year given the higher revenue levels. We also incurred additional costs due to higher wages associated with the overlapping manufacturing workforces during the transition of production between the Company’s two facilities in China and severance for terminated Shanghai staff as production was moved to the Zhenjiang facility.  

During the second quarter of fiscal 2015, total costs and expenses increased by approximately $249,000 compared to the same period of the prior year. The increase was due to the addition of approximately $277,000 in professional services fees in support of strategic growth initiatives, $23,000 of severance to terminated employees, offset by ongoing management of expenses.  Total operating loss for the second quarter of fiscal 2015 was approximately $(405,000), compared to an operating loss of approximately $(186,000) for the same period in fiscal 2014.

In the second quarter of fiscal 2015, the Company recognized non-cash income of approximately $535,000 related to the change in the fair value of warrant liability issued in connection with the June 2012 private placement. In the second quarter of fiscal 2014, the Company recognized non-cash expense of approximately $35,000 related to the change in the fair value of these warrants. The warrants have a five year life and this fair value will be re-measured each reporting period until the warrants are exercised or expire.
Net income for the second quarter of fiscal 2015 was approximately $141,000 (including the $535,000 non-cash income for the change in value of the warrant liability) or $0.01 per basic and diluted common share, compared with a net loss of $(202,000) (including the $35,000 non-cash expense for the change in value of the warrant liability) or $(0.01) per basic and diluted common share for the same period in fiscal 2014. Weighted-average basic shares outstanding increased to 14,305,985 in the second quarter of fiscal 2015 compared to 13,863,865 in the second quarter of fiscal 2014 primarily due to the issuance of shares of common stock for the employee stock purchase plan.
Adjusted  earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and change in fair value of warrant liability (“Adjusted EBITDA”) for the second quarter of fiscal 2015 was approximately ($240,000) compared to approximately $39,000 in the second quarter of fiscal 2014.  The difference in Adjusted EBITDA between periods was principally caused by a higher net loss recognized in the six months ended December 31, 2014, as well as lower depreciation, offset by higher income related to the change in the fair value of our warrant liability with respect to the June 2012 Warrants during the six months ended December 31, 2014.
Financial Results for Six Months Ended December 31, 2014
Revenue for the first half of fiscal 2015 totaled approximately $6.0 million, an increase of $239,000, or 4%, as compared to the same period of the prior fiscal year.   The increase from the first half of the prior fiscal year was attributable to an increase in sales of precision molded lenses and a 158% increase in sales of infrared products.

The gross margin percentage in the first half of fiscal 2015 was 38%, compared to 45% in the first half of fiscal 2014. Total manufacturing costs of $3.7 million increased by approximately $550,000 in the first half of fiscal 2015 compared to the same period of the prior fiscal year given the higher revenue levels. We also incurred additional costs  due to higher wages associated with the ramp-up in infrared production, the overlapping manufacturing workforces during the transition of production between the two China facilities, severance for terminated Shanghai staff as production was moved to the Zhenjiang facility.

During the first half of fiscal 2015, total costs and expenses increased by approximately $356,000 compared to the same period of the prior year. The increase was primarily due to an increase of approximately $268,000 in professional services fees in support of strategic growth initiatives and $173,000 in wages, partially offset by $88,000 in lower stock compensation expense.  Total operating loss for the first half of fiscal 2015 was approximately $(915,000) compared to an operating loss of approximately $(248,000) for the same period in fiscal 2014.

In the first half of fiscal 2015, the Company recognized non-cash income of approximately $481,000 related to the change in the fair value of warrant liability issued in connection with the June 2012 private placement. In the first half of fiscal 2014, the Company recognized non-cash expense of approximately $54,000 related to the change in the fair value of these warrants. The warrants have a five year life and this fair value will be re-measured each reporting period until the warrants are exercised or expire.
Net loss for the first half of fiscal 2015 was approximately $(438,000) (including the $481,000 non-cash income for the change in value of the warrant liability) or $(0.03) per basic and diluted common share, compared with a net loss of $(282,000) (including the $54,000 non-cash expense for the change in value of the warrant liability) or $(0.02) per basic and diluted common share for the same period in fiscal 2014. Weighted-average basic shares outstanding increased to 14,297,807 in the first half of fiscal 2015 compared to 13,715,789 in the first half 2014 primarily due to the issuance of shares of common stock for the employee stock purchase plan.
Cash and cash equivalents totaled approximately $795,000 as of December 31, 2014. Subsequent to the end of the second quarter of fiscal 2015, we received gross proceeds of approximately $1.3 million from the sale of common stock to Pudong Science & Technology Investment (Cayman) Co. Ltd.  The current ratio as of December 31, 2014 was 2.3 to 1 compared to 3.0 to 1 as of June 30, 2014. Total stockholders’ equity as of December 31, 2014 totaled approximately $7.0 million compared to $7.3 million as of June 30, 2014. 
As of December 31, 2014, the Company’s 12-month backlog was $5.6 million, compared to $4.3 million as of June 30, 2014, an increase of approximately 31%, and $5.3 million at September 30, 2014, an increase of approximately 5%. 
Investor Conference Call and Webcast Details:
LightPath will host an audio conference call and webcast on Thursday, February 5, at 4:30 p.m. ET to discuss the Company’s financial and operational performance for the second quarter of fiscal 2015.
Date: Thursday, February 5, 2015
Time: 4:30 p.m. (ET)
Dial-in Number: 1-800-860-2442
International Dial-in Number: 1-412-858-4600
It is recommended that participants dial-in approximately 5 to 10 minutes prior to the start of the 4:30 p.m. call. A transcript archive and webcast of the event will be available for viewing or download on the Company web site shortly after the call is concluded.
About LightPath Technologies
LightPath Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: LPTH) provides optics and photonics solutions for the industrial, defense, telecommunications, testing and measurement, and medical industries. LightPath designs, manufactures, and distributes optical and infrared components including molded glass aspheric lenses and assemblies, infrared lenses and thermal imaging assemblies, fused fiber collimators, and gradient index GRADIUM® lenses. LightPath also offers custom optical assemblies, including full engineering design support.  For more information, visit www.lightpath.com.
The discussions of our results as presented in this release include use of non-GAAP terms “EBITDA” and “gross margin.”  Gross margin is determined by deducting the cost of sales from operating revenue. Cost of sales includes manufacturing direct and indirect labor, materials, services, fixed costs for rent, utilities and depreciation, and variable overhead. Gross margin should not be considered an alternative to operating income or net income, which is determined in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”). We believe that gross margin, although a non-GAAP financial measure is useful and meaningful to investors as a basis for making investment decisions. It provides investors with information that demonstrates   our cost structure and provides funds for our total costs and expenses. We use gross margin in measuring the performance of our business and have historically analyzed and reported gross margin information publicly. Other companies may calculate gross margin in a different manner.
EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure used by management, lenders and certain investors as a supplemental measure in the evaluation of some aspects of a corporation's financial position and core operating performance. Investors sometimes use EBITDA as it allows for some level of comparability of profitability trends between those businesses differing as to capital structure and capital intensity by removing the impacts of depreciation, amortization, and interest expense. EBITDA also does not include changes in major working capital items such as receivables, inventory and payables, which can also indicate a significant need for, or source of, cash. Since decisions regarding capital investment and financing and changes in working capital components can have a significant impact on cash flow, EBITDA is not a good indicator of a business's cash flows. We use EBITDA for evaluating the relative underlying performance of the Company's core operations and for planning purposes. We calculate EBITDA by adjusting net income or loss to exclude net interest expense, income tax expense or benefit, depreciation and amortization, thus the term "Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization" and the acronym "EBITDA."
We calculate Adjusted EBITDA by adjusting net income or loss to exclude net interest expense, income tax expense or benefit, depreciation and amortization, and the change in fair value of warrant liability, thus the term “Adjusted Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization” and the acronym “Adjusted EBITDA”.
This news release includes statements that constitute forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding our ability to expand our presence in certain markets, future sales growth, continuing reductions in cash usage and implementation of new distribution channels. This information may involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, factors detailed by LightPath Technologies, Inc. in its public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as required under the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission, we do not have any intention or obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.      

Contacts:

Jim Gaynor, CEO
LightPath Technologies, Inc.
407-382-4003

Dorothy Cipolla, CFO
LightPath Technologies, Inc.
407-382-4003 x 305

Jordan Darrow
Darrow Associates, Inc.
631-637-1866









                       











Thursday, February 5, 2015

OSA, SPIE and IEEE Joint Student Chapter Seminar: "The 3 Laws of Communication" by Dr. Jean-luc Doumont 2.23.15/2:00-4:00pm/ CREOL RM 102/103

OSA, SPIE and IEEE Joint Student Chapter Seminar: "The 3 Laws of Communication" by Dr. Jean-luc Doumont
Monday, February 23, 2015 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM
CREOL Room 102/103

Celebrating the International Year of Light 2015


Dr. Jean-luc Doumont

Abstract:
Useful as each of them can be, a large body of tips and tricks is impossible to remember, at least in a practical, usable way, unless it is structured into a balanced, meaningful hierarchy. This talk proposes and illustrates three simple yet solid ideas that lead to more effective communication and that underpin every other guideline: easy to remember, readily applicable, and always relevant—in short, valuable for the rest of your life.

Biography:
An engineer (Louvain) and PhD in applied physics (Stanford), Jean-luc is acclaimed worldwide for his no-nonsense approach, his highly applicable, often life-changing recommendations on a wide range of topics, and Trees, maps, and theorems, c?his book about “effective communication for rational minds”.

For additional information: 

Colin Constant

Monday, February 2, 2015

LPTH Press Release: LightPath Technologies Announces Strategic Growth Initiatives


For Immediate Release:
LightPath Technologies Announces Strategic Growth Initiatives  

Past Investments in Manufacturing and Product Development Set Stage for Enhanced Sales/Marketing Activities and Operational Efficiencies

Operating Expense Reductions Estimated to be 5% to 10% for Fiscal 2016


ORLANDO, FL – February 2, 2015 – LightPath Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: LPTH) (“LightPath,” the “Company” or “we”), a leading vertically integrated global manufacturer, integrator and distributor of proprietary optical components, infrared lenses and high-level assemblies, announced today the implementation of strategic growth initiatives and an organizational optimization plan.    Under these plans, the Company will be better positioned to accelerate its revenue growth and profitability, principally by the transition to a technical sales process that leverages the success of its existing demand-creation model.  To align the organization for specific goals and accountability, an executive structure has been created with three direct reporting lines: Operations, China, and Finance. 

Commenting on the newly implemented initiatives, Jim Gaynor, President and Chief Executive Officer of LightPath, said, “We are driving changes in the marketplace and are adapting accordingly.  Over the past five years we have recorded a compounded annual revenue growth rate of approximately 10% for our core aspheric optical lens business, which excludes our new infrared product line and a large non-recurring DARPA program.  During this period, we invested to expand our high speed manufacturing capacity, enhance our manufacturing, coating and finishing processes, and implemented a demand-creation model that leverages our low cost, high volume, superior quality production capabilities to not only take market share but, more importantly, to create new market opportunities.”

“The Company’s revenue growth alone reflects the success of our efforts, with our top line supporting significant market share gains as we have increased sales of our precision molded optics by a 9.8% compound annual growth rate for the period of 2009 through 2014 as compared to the 5.8% market growth rate for laser diodes for the period of 2010 through 2014 as reported by Laser Focus World’s annual survey.  Furthermore, as we reported in our last quarterly financial results, our 12 month backlog increased approximately 25% to $5.3 million at September 30, 2014 as compared to June 30, 2014, and our bookings for optical lenses in the first quarter of fiscal 2015 were nearly $3.5 million, the highest level in ten quarters. Other measures that demonstrate our improved operational position is in our production capacity and profitability.  The average number of lenses sold per year from 2006 through 2008 were under 400,000 as compared with an average number of lenses sold per year reaching over 2 million from 2012 through 2014.  At the same time, our annual average gross margin as a percentage of revenue increased from 18% in 2006 through 2008 to 42% in 2012 through 2014.”

“Given the success we have achieved over the last several years, the growth initiatives and organizational modifications announced today are intended to further enhance our incremental organic growth position for our core aspheric lens business, prime our operations for the anticipated high growth of our new infrared products, and allow for the integration of strategic acquisitions.  An ancillary benefit of the changes announced today is an estimated annual reduction of operating expenses of 5% to 10% or savings of approximately $200,000 to $375,000 per year upon complete implementation.  We are benefiting from a substantial increase in revenue generating opportunities and broader market applications as a result of our investments in technologies that decreased our lens production costs and expanded our production capacity.  We believe we can further improve upon our track record of growth – and to do so far more profitably. ”

As an integral component to accomplish its goals, LightPath is aligning its sales and marketing efforts to elevate its demand-creation model to an even more technically-based approach as its addressable markets have proven to be increasingly receptive to the Company’s product lines.  Technical and engineering staff will be more fully integrated with the Company’s sales force, and two new sales positions have been created: (1) Executive Sales Manager, combining the responsibility for all sales and marketing under Glenn Breeze; and, (2) Marketing Manager under Kimberly Clifton. Organizations supporting aspheric visible lens products and the Company’s new line of infrared products will be combined.  Sales, marketing, engineering and quality will report to Alan Symmons, who assumes the newly created position of Executive Vice President-Operations.  

Mr. Symmons, previously Vice President of Corporate Engineering, has been a valued part of LightPath’s leadership team since 2006. He is credited with making significant corporate-wide improvements, including the organization and management of a technical staff; implementation of LightFast, a quick turnaround of product quotes and production of custom designs; and the development of new lens products that include low cost lenses, blue lenses and many custom designs.

Mr. Breeze, previously Director of Infrared Sales, joined LightPath in 2013 from Ophir Optics where he was Director of Sales and Marketing. Mr Breeze has over 40 years experience in engineering, technical sales and business development. His experience with electro optical applications, infrared optical components and design bring exactly the skills and industry contacts needed to support the growth of LightPath’s business.

Ms. Clifton also joined LightPath in 2013 to lead the inside sales and marketing communications function. She has over 20 years of experience in sales, marketing, media communications and merchandising for companies such as Stanley Black and Decker, Crossfire Safety Eyewear, Scholastic Inc., The Gap, and NPI Direct Mail Marketing.

LightPath’s Finance organization will continue to be led by Chief Financial Officer Dorothy Cipolla, who also will assume the newly created position of Chief Administrative Officer.  Areas reporting to Ms. Cipolla now include functions relating to finance, controller, human resources, purchasing, facilities, and internal control systems/IT.

Ms. Cipolla has been Chief Financial Officer, Secretary and Treasurer since February 2006.  She has over 30 years’ experience and served as a CFO for both public and private companies. Prior to joining LightPath, Ms. Cipolla was engaged as CFO for LaserSight Inc., a manufacturer of laser eye surgery equipment from March 2004 through February 2006. Ms. Cipolla served in various accounting, finance and business positions with LaserSight Inc., Alliant Energy Corporation, Goliath Networks, Inc., and Network Six, Inc. as well as various roles within The Kendall Company (Colgate Palmolive) and Ernst & Young. Ms. Cipolla is a certified public accountant.

LightPath’s business in China will continue to be led by General Manager Hui Yue.  Mr. Yue has been with LightPath since 2007, serving as General Manager for the Company’s activities in China for the last three years.  Earlier at LightPath, he had been Deputy GM for the Shanghai province operations for over five years.  Under his leadership, LightPath has doubled its lens manufacturing capacity, including the recently opened facility in Zhenjiang province. Prior to joining LightPath Mr. Yue was the Senior Director of Sales for Walsin Fujikura.

About LightPath Technologies:

LightPath Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: LPTH) provides optics and photonics solutions for the industrial, defense, telecommunications, testing and measurement, and medical industries. LightPath designs, manufactures, and distributes optical and infrared components including molded glass aspheric lenses and assemblies, infrared lenses and thermal imaging assemblies, fused fiber collimators, and gradient index GRADIUM® lenses. LightPath also offers custom optical assemblies, including full engineering design support.  For more information, visit www.lightpath.com.


This news release includes statements that constitute forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding our ability to expand our presence in certain markets, future sales growth, continuing reductions in cash usage and implementation of new distribution channels. This information may involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, factors detailed by LightPath Technologies, Inc. in its public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as required under the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission, we do not have any intention or obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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Investor Contact:

Jordan Darrow

Darrow Associates, Inc.


631-367-1866