CompuDyne Corp.

2530 Riva Rd.

Year founded: 1952

Industry: other

Post 200 Category: Top 125 Companies

Revenue: $142.78 Million

Net Income/Loss: ($8,198,000.00)

Earnings per share: ($1.01)

Dividend: n/a

Stockholder equity: $45.83 Million

Auditor: PriceWaterhouse Coopers

Stock: CDCY

Assets: $132.89 Million

Market capitalization: $45.74 Million

52-week high: 12.3 4/14/2004

52-week low: 4.65 2/28/2005

CEO and President: Martin A. Roenigk

COO: Maurice Boukelif

Employees: 804

Local employees: 100

Description: CompuDyne sells security products, such as prison locks and software used to manage 911 calls, to customers including jails, federal agencies, courthouses, U.S. embassies, the military and private institutions.

Developments: Amid lingering terrorism fears and worsening government budget squeezes, CompuDyne is caught between a surging demand for its security products and a customer base pinching its pennies. In January 2004, the Annapolis firm secured Army and Navy orders for security bollards and pop-up barriers that sent its stock up 14 percent in the final week of that month. And in April, CompuDyne wowed investors with an announcement that profits the previous year had leaped almost 90 percent, to $3.4 million. But by May, the financial picture had turned darker, as state and local governments began cutting back on spending. The company reported a "sharp curtailment" of prison and jail construction contracts, as well as awards for software projects to the company's public safety and justice segment. Luckily for CompuDyne, the federal government has shown little reluctance to spend money despite the deficit. Federal orders have continued to come in, for blast-proof windows and doors for an embassy annex in Albania and new embassies in Beijing and Managua, Nicaragua, for security booths at nuclear reactors, and for perimeter sensors for Air Force bases. For the year ended Dec. 31, the company reported a loss of $8.2 million, down from a 2003 profit of $3.4 million. Revenue for the year dropped 26.1 percent, to $142.8 million from $193.3 million. Although much of its business is still in the nuts and bolts of security, such as blast-proof doors and pop-up barriers, the company has continued to bolster its work in security software. In August, CompuDyne acquired 90 Degrees, Inc., a Yakima, Wash., emergency medical information software for public safety agencies. In December, the company snapped up Copperfire Software Solutions, a Silicon Valley firm specializing in report-writing and forms software for public safety and justice agencies.