<Operating profits rose to $123 million from $10 million a year ago. Orders were up significantly in Europe and the Americas
and were higher in Japan and Asia Pacific.>
UPDATE 1-Motorola profits jump 144 percent
(Adds details paras 1, 5-13, stock quote para 4)
SCHAUMBURG, Ill., April 10 (Reuters) - Motorola Inc. (NYSE:MOT - news), the
world's No. 2 wireless phone maker, said on Monday its first-quarter profits before
one-time items jumped 144 percent, topping Wall Street forecasts, amid strong sales of
cellular phones and computer chips.
Motorola said it earned $449 million, or 59 cents per share excluding charges relating to the acquisition of General Instrument
Corp. as well as certain one-time gains. That compares with $184 million, or 26 cents per share, before one-time items in the
year-ago quarter.
Analysts were forecasting a first-quarter profit of 58 cents per share, according to First Call/Thomson Financial, which tracks
such data. An options trader contacted before the earnings were released said so-called ``whisper' numbers -- or unpublished
estimates -- were running as high as 62 cents.
Ahead of the news, shares in Motorola slipped 2-7/8 to close at 149 in New York Stock Exchange trading.
Revenues in the first quarter climbed to $8.8 billion from $7.3 billion a year ago, boosted by strong sales of wireless phones,
semiconductors and other products. Motorola said the acquisition of leading set-top box maker General Instrument also helped
revenues.
``We are especially pleased by the results in our new broadband communications sector, which was formed after the merger
with General Instrument, the improvements in our network systems business, and the sequential growth in quarterly earnings for
semiconductors,' Robert Growney, president and chief operating officer, said in a statement.
In the semiconductor products segment -- a closely watched area because Motorola is among the first major technology
companies to report earnings -- sales increased 24 percent to $1.9 billion and orders rose 21 percent to $2.0 billion.
Operating profits rose to $123 million from $10 million a year ago. Orders were up significantly in Europe and the Americas
and were higher in Japan and Asia Pacific.
In the personal communications segment, Motorola's largest in terms of revenues, sales rose 24 percent to $3.2 billion and
orders increased 20 percent to $3.2 billion.
Operating profits declined to $49 million from $83 million a year ago, hurt by a shift in the wireless phone product mix toward
low-tier products with smaller margins, increased costs for certain components in short supply, and significantly higher
investments in engineering and advertising.
The shift in product mix, which was widely expected by analysts, resulted from an increase in the number of prepaid programs,
which feature low-tier products offered by wireless service providers, particularly in Europe.
In the network systems segment, which includes Motorola's wireless infrastructure business, sales increased 11 percent to $1.8
billion and orders were up 4 percent to $1.8 billion. The gains would have been even stronger excluding the sharp drop in
satellite communications equipment demand following the demise of global satellite telephone company Iridium LLC.
Operating profits for that unit increased to $280 million from $193 million a year ago.
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