Peachtree City's Crown Andersen Inc. has laid off six workers as a result of third-quarter losses, but the company's finance officer says he believes that the situation is temporary.

Net losses in the first nine months of the fiscal year also related strongly to settlement of a $900,000 lawsuit concerning contaminated land at a Kansas subsidiary of the company, said Milton Emmanueli. The company employs about 60 people.

The company, manufacturers of custom-designed equipment for air pollution and emissions control, moved to Dividend Drive in Peachtree City from College Park some 10 years ago, according to Emmanueli. An "abrupt slowdown" in orders from Asian markets recently, resulting from currency fluctuations, caused a drop of about 33 percent in revenues for the nine-month period ending June 30 ($5.6 lower than the same period in 1997), Emmanueli said.

Emmanueli noted that new markets in South America and efforts to increase market share in the U.S. are paying off, with $4 million in equipment on order at present and another $4 million anticipated in the next few months.

Chairman and CEO Jack D. Brady says the company maintains "a strong balance sheet to enable rapid recovery from this temporary setback," and that cost-cutting measures and the eventual return of Asian markets will keep the company profitable.

At the end of the third quarter, the company reported a net worth of $13,012,279, which translates to a book value per share of $8.59, the finance officer said.