Motorola Posts 4th-Quarter Profit on Strong Handset Sales
Dow Jones Business News
Tuesday January 21, 7:04 pm ET
biz.yahoo.com
SCHAUMBURG, Ill. -- Motorola Inc. (NYSE:MOT - News) , bolstered by strong handset sales, posted its second consecutive quarter of profitability and beat its own estimates for the fourth quarter.
The world's second-largest mobile-phone maker late Tuesday reported net income of $174 million, or eight cents a share, compared with a net loss of $1.24 billion, or 55 cents a share, a year earlier.
The latest results included charges of $125 million, while year-earlier results included charges of $1.15 billion.
Excluding charges from both periods, Motorola said it had earnings of $299 million, or 13 cents a share, compared with a loss of $90 million, or four cents a share, a year earlier.
Sales rose 3.2% to $7.55 billion from $7.31 billion a year earlier.
The results topped Motorola's November forecast for earnings, excluding items, of 10 cents a share on sales of $7.1 billion.
The company attributed the period's positive results to many quarters of cost- cutting and restructuring. "The operation actions we have taken in all aspects of Motorola during this multiyear turnaround effort are continuing to achieve positive results in what has been a difficult economic environment for technology companies such as ours," President and Chief Operating Officer Mike Zafirovski said in a written statement.
During the latest quarter, each of Motorola's segments reported positive operating earnings. Personal Communication, its largest segment that includes its handset division, posted sales of $3.3 billion, up 11%.
Motorola shipped 22 million handsets, 27% more than a year earlier, with shipments increasing faster than sales because of a shift in demand for lower- priced handsets.
Motorola said its market share in the personal communications segment grew to 19% in the quarter, with "major" gains in North America and Latin America.
For all of 2002, Motorola had a net loss of $2.49 billion, or $1.09 a share, compared with a net loss of $3.94 billion, or $1.78 a share, a year earlier. Excluding items, Motorola posted 2002 earnings of $314 million, or 14 cents a share, compared with a loss of $697 million, or 31 cents a share, a year earlier.
Full-year sales fell 11% to $26.68 billion from $29.87 billion in 2001.
Looking ahead, Motorola projects first-quarter earnings, excluding items, of break-even to two cents a share on sales of $6 billion to $6.2 billion. Analysts are looking for earnings before items of five cents a share, according to First Call.
A year earlier, Motorola had a first-quarter loss of eight cents a share, excluding items, on sales of $6 billion.
As for 2003, Motorola backed its previous earnings and sales estimates and said it is optimistic that it can have "modest" sales growth in 2003.
"The world economies are today showing some underlying signs of a rebound, which if not significantly disrupted by world events, could have a favorable impact on our markets as customers move towards renewing their capital spending, " said Christopher Galvin, Motorola's chairman and chief executive.
Motorola expects 2003 earnings, excluding items, of 40 cents a share on sales of $27.5 billion. Analysts are looking for 2003 earnings of 38 cents a share, excluding items.
The company reported its results after the market close. At 4 p.m. EST on the New York Stock Exchange, shares of Motorola were down two cents at $8.75. In after-hours trading, Motorola shares rose to $9.10, according to Island ECN.
-Mike Lucas; Dow Jones Newswires; 609-520-5829
(The Wall Street Journal Online contributed to this article.) |
