JDS Uniphase Corp. (Nasdaq: JDSU; Toronto: JDU) just can't win. The company seems to have leveled out its decline in communications revenues, but now the non-comm side is dipping slightly (see JDSU Reins In Q4 Losses).

For its fourth fiscal quarter ended June 30, JDS Uniphase reported losses of $61.6 million, or 4 cents per share, on revenues of $161 million. That compares with losses of $1.0 billion, or 76 cents per share, on revenues of $222 million for the same quarter a year ago.

Analysts expected losses of 3 cents per share for the June quarter, according to Thomson First Call. Most believe it will be at least another year before the company becomes profitable (see Is JDSU's Cap Set Too High?).

Revenues for the fiscal year were $676 million, capping a second straight year of steep declines, from $1.1 billion in fiscal 2002 and $3.2 billion in fiscal 2001.

Officials said the communications business, representing 49 percent of the fiscal 2003 revenues, has flattened out. But at the same time, the thin-film business -- that is, the non-communications lines that made up 51 percent of revenues -- is expected to decline a bit, particularly when it comes to products for video displays.

As a result, revenues from the current quarter should land between $145 million and $155 million, with losses clocking in at 2 or 3 cents per share, CEO Jozef Straus said during the call.

Syrus Madavi, COO and president, noted that the visibility on the communications side has actually improved, relative to the beginning of the year. But that's been canceled out by greater shakiness on the thin-film side. "They sort of balance each other off," he deadpanned.

Executives said the thin-film decline will come from the display market in particular, but they wouldn't pin it down to any particular customer or product. It could be an important point, because the display business includes JDSU's largest customer, Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN), representing about 13 percent of revenues. Analysts such as Max Schuetz of Credit Suisse First Boston Corp. had previously speculated that the TI business might slow down soon.

The company did have some relatively good news to report. For the first time in 10 quarters, its book-to-bill ratio was greater than 1.0, an indication that business is actually growing. And the restructuring process, which has brought the company down to 5,500 employees, is on track to be completed by December.

JDSU expects to have a breakeven point of $200 million in revenues by December, and officials said they expect to lower that number further, to $170 million by next June.

— Craig Matsumoto, Senior Editor, Light Reading