Newport Corp. closed the first quarter of 2014 with sales at $146.9 million, an increase of 10.8 percent over the same quarter last year. The advanced technology firm’s quarterly earnings were $7.9 million. All markets except security and defense posted better sales now than a year ago, the company said. The sales figure represented a sequential decline of 4.7 percent, due in part to the sale of the MRSI subsidiary, which contributed $3 million in sales in the fourth quarter. Newport had increased orders for microelectronics and industrial manufacturing products, but there was a decline in orders in the scientific research and defense and security end markets and a $14 million order from the last quarter did not repeat, leading to an 11.7 percent sequential drop. “Newport's positive financial results in the first quarter of 2014 reflect the continued strength we are experiencing in our business,” said Newport President and CEO Robert J. Phillippy. “Our first-quarter sales of $146.9 million increased 10.8 percent year-over-year, and we leveraged this increase into a 60.5 percent increase in non-GAAP operating income and an 81.3 percent increase in non-GAAP net income per diluted share.” "We are off to a good start in 2014, and our first quarter results provide us with a strong foundation to build on,” Phillippy added. “In the second quarter of 2014, we expect sales to be in the range of $147 million to $153 million, which would be 9.5 percent to 14 percent higher than the second quarter of 2013.”